

ANIMALS INJURIOUS TO FARM AND GARDEN PRODUCE. 13 



LlFE-HlSTORY. 



This is pre-eminently a garden and hedge loving species, although 

 also found in fields and meadows. Its life-history was first worked 

 out by Curtis. 1 



The eggs are oval, spoon-shaped, and jet black. The larvae are 

 of an earthy colour, very wrinkled, and about three-quarters of an 

 inch long. They pupate early in the spring, the pupae being a golden- 

 brown colour and slightly narrower than the larvae, though about the 

 same length. 



Curtis refers to them as eating " off trusses of the strawberry 

 flowers close to the crown . . . the first week in May they were not 

 uncommon amongst the roots of the lilac and under tufts of grass ; 

 they were also destroying the strawberry and raspberry plants as well 

 as the carrots ; on the 28th of the same month I observed some 

 recently-transplanted lettuces drooping, and on examination I found 

 the roots separated from the crown a little below the surface, and 

 close by these grubs. ... At the end of July they were eating the 

 roots of dahlias, carnations, and various flowers, and on the 7th of 

 August they were observed infesting some potato ground with the 

 larvae of T. olerucea; after \vhich I lost sight of them." 



PREVENTIVE AND REMEDIAL MEASURES. 



Amongst the birds that feed upon the larvae must be mentioned 

 the starling, lapwing, pheasant, various gulls, and the rook. All the 

 species of Crane Flies have increased enormously with the decrease 

 of the lapwing, and the same holds true with regard to wireworms 

 and other soil pests. 



As preventive measures, all rough herbage should be kept down 

 during the autumn, the flies often utilising it for depositing their eggs 

 on; heavy rolling pasture land, when the flies are noticed, kills large 

 numbers ; attention to drainage is also important, as the flies prefer 

 damp land. 



Sand saturated with paraffin and scattered along hedgerows, etc., 

 will act as a deterrent to egg laying. Ground unslaked lime and gas 

 lime will destroy many of the larvae. 



1 Farm Insects, 1883, p. 449. 



