230 



A COUNTRY READER. 



DADDY LONO L.EGS. 



the fly settles she lays two or three black looking 



eggs bent like a 

 sickle, and repeats 

 the process till all 

 her eggs are laid, 

 some 250 in num- 

 ber. 



Those fields 



which have been 

 previously grass- 

 land are most infested. From under the pieces 

 of turf that are left in the fields they come out to 

 attack the standing corn that is generally grown 

 after grass or seeds. They devour the roots of 

 grasses and corn, and do most damage in the 

 spring and autumn. 



These insects not only attack the roots, but 

 in the daytime, during dark, damp weather, they 

 devour parts of the young leaves of the young 

 corn plants. 



In May the larva is ready to pass into the 

 pupa stage. After a rest of fourteen to seventeen 

 days the pupa works its way near the surface till 

 the front part of the body sticks out of the soil. 

 From it the fly then escapes. Its natural enemies 

 are moles, shrews, wagtails, grasshoppers, warblers, 

 rooks, and gulls. 



The Aphides, or plant lice, commonly 

 known as the green -fly, are also called the 



