THE PEAR MIDGE AND CRAXE FLIES. 49 



the genus Platygaster, which had evidently been parasitic upon the 

 larvae. Meade (i) also records that in those he bred, two female 

 Platygastridae made their appearance. 



REMEDIAL MEASURES. 



Once the trees in an orchard are known to be infected, there 

 should be no hesitation to strip the whole of the fruit and destroy 

 it by burning, after covering with paraffin. 



Drenching the ground well with paraffin emulsion beneath 

 the trees, early in April and again about the time th? larvae com- 

 mence to fall, has been recommended. 



Treating the ground with kainit has also been tried in this 

 and other countries, and it has often proved very beneficial. 



Finally, so far as my experience goes, the most successful 

 remedy is to deeply trench the ground beneath the trees in the 

 winter and then roll it early in the spring. By this means the 

 pupae are deeply buried, while the rolling hardens and cakes 

 the surface, thereby preventing any few which may have been 

 left near the surface from making their way through. In not a 

 few cases the rolling alone has proved very effective, but wherever 

 possible the soil beneath and around the trees should be deeply 

 turned over and later rolled. 



A correspondent in June last forwarded to me specimens 

 of pears gathered from trees growing wild, which were all badly 

 infected. Such trees should, of course, be burnt. 



CRANE FLIES. 



Tipula oleracea, Linn. 



The larvae of this and other species of Crane Flies, or Daddy 

 Longlegs, as they are popularly termed, often damaga root crops 

 to a serious extent, and unfortunately there is no known remedy 

 for them, but much can be done to minimise the amount of 

 damage, and also in destroying them. 



In June a correspondent near Worcester forwarded larvae 

 (Leather- Jackets) of this fly which were exceedingly plentiful 

 in, and had practically ruined, a four acre Feld of wheat. 



Quite recently, Mr. Fred. V. Theobold ( 2 ), than whom no one 

 is more capable, has given a detailed account of the " Injurious 

 Tipulidae of Great Britain," and points out that rolling with 

 a heavy ring-roller is especially advantageous in the case of attacks 

 to barley or wheat. 



As preventive measures, all rough herbage should be kept 

 down during the autumn, the flies often utilising it for depositing 

 their eggs on ; heavily rolling pasture land when the flies are 

 noticed, kills large numbers ; attention to drainage, Crane Flies 



1. Entomologist, 1888, vol. xxi, p. 123. 



2. First Rpt. Ecoa. Zool., 1903, pp. 94-104, figs. i-n. 



