INSECT INJURIES. 447 



and the plant either entirely destroyed or seriously in- 

 jured. In France, one of the greatest pests to the man- 

 gold crop is a small beetle, iheAtomaria linearis, belong- 

 ing to the family Cryptophagidse, which infests the leaves 

 and roots, destroying the young buds as they appear. 

 It appears to secrete itself among the particles of the soil, 

 whence in fine weather it emerges, ascends the stem, and 

 devours the leaves. " These little creatures often appear/' 

 says M. Bazin, " in families, on a small plant, of which 

 in a few hours nothing remains but a leafless stalk, which 

 presently withers and dies." A few years since it devas- 

 tated whole fields in the neighbourhood of Lille, so that 

 nothing remained but to plough up and re-sow the land. 1 

 The beetle appears in May and June, less seldom in July 

 and August. Curtis tells us that it is abundant in Eng- 

 land, and no doubt occasions some of the injuries which 

 our mangold crops sustain. In the early period of their 

 growth, the leaves are punctured by the "common turnip- 

 fly " (Haltica nemoruni), though apparently not to any 

 injurious extent ; another insect, however, appears about 

 the same time, whose visits are attended with more 

 serious consequences. This is the "beet carrion-beetle "- 

 SilpJia opaca an insect long known to us as delighting 

 in decaying animal matter, but which, until a few years 

 ago, was not known to have a propensity for a vegetable 

 diet also. On the Continent, and also in Ireland, they 

 have committed great ravages, and have been noticed 

 from time to time committing their depredations in 

 various parts of this country.- They are small, in shape 

 like the " wood-louse/' but black and shining; at first 

 they are covered with hairs (to'mentosd), which drop off 

 as they assume their black colour. They confine their 

 attacks to the leaves, which they entirely devour down 



1 Annales de la Societe Entom. de France, 1847, p. 1. 



2 The detailed observations are given in Farm Insects, p. 392. 



