94 



STRAWBERRY. 



entomologist, and the damage caused by the beetles to the fruit 

 properly observed. 



Mr. Duustan's communication to me was as follows : — " I am 

 venturing to ask your advice with regard to an attack on Strawberries 

 by beetles made last season at Woodborough in this county. The 

 beetles have been identified as of a carnivorous type, — Pterostichus 

 viadidus, Harpalus rtijicorilis, Calathus cisteloides. 



" The actual berries were attacked and devoured by the beetles at 

 night, who swarmed on the plants, and the crop was of course ruined. 

 The attack was watched by the farmer, who had three roods devoted 

 to Strawberries, and the beetles themselves seen to be the actual 

 culprits feeding on the berries ; no other animals were observed after 

 which the beetles might have come, — in fact, the total destruction of all 

 the berries seems to point to the berries being the object of the beetles' 

 visit. The farmer is naturally anxious to know how to prevent such 

 an attack next year, and, if the attack should occur, how to get rid of 

 the beetles. I should be sincerely obliged if you can give me any 

 information or suggestion that can enable him to deal with the 

 case." 



Without going into minute scientific distinctions, it may be just 

 mentioned that the three kinds of beetles mentioned above belong to 

 three different genera of the Carahidce, a family of the predacious 

 "Ground Beetles," of which it was said by the late Mr. Eye: — 

 " Superficially, the Geodephaga may be known by their active habits, 

 slaughtering propensities, thin legs and auteun®, and hard outer 

 covering." * 



But though feeding on insects or animal matter, as earthworms, 

 mollusks, &c., is their general characteristic, this is by no means 

 wholly the case. The grubs of the Corn Ground Beetle, the Zabrus 

 (jihhus, are injurious at the roots of corn, and the beetles to the milky 

 grain of Barley in the ear. The capacity of some of the Ground 

 Beetles for causing injury to crops has long been known, and the 

 precise amount to which many of them feed on vegetable matter 

 given in the microscopic investigations of Prof. S. A. Forbes, State 

 Entomologist of Illinois, U.S.A. ; and the present well-authenticated 

 observation of injury to fruit, it may be hoped, will give a clue leading 

 to cause of devastations to Strawberry fruit which occur from time 

 to time, but which I have not before been able to trace to the de- 

 predators. 



These three species of beetles are so much alike in general appear- 

 ance, that the figure of the Pterostichus [ = Steropits) madidus, given at 

 p. 93, may be taken as conveying a fair idea of the shape of each 

 of them ; when placed side by side, the differences show plainly. 



* 'British Beetles,' by E. C. Eye, p. 46, 



