HARMFUL TO CROPS. 229 



every three or four years is called a cockchafer 

 year, and then the beetles appear in millions, 

 while scarcely one can be found during the 

 intermediate year. 



COCKCHAFER. GROUND BEETLE. 



When they are numerous they are a perfect 

 scourge. The female lays about 40 eggs; the 

 grubs devour grass and clover roots, and the roots 

 of grain plants, peas, beans, cabbage, and pota- 

 toes, and in gardens the roots of many vege- 

 tables, and in particular the underground parts 

 of strawberry plants 



The natural enemies of the cockchafer are 

 moles, shrews, bats, crows, starlings, owls, and 

 the large species of ground beetle. 



Daddy Long Legs, or Crane Fly. The daddy 

 long legs which you all know by sight is a very 

 long-legged gnat, without sting, which lives on 

 the juices of plants. These long-legged, un- 

 sightly looking insects, in some summers fly about 

 in swarms, generally about the same field in which 

 fhey were hatched in the spring. They lay their 

 eggs in the fields, and the eggs are often blown 

 about for long distances by the wind. Each time 



