114 



TUBNIP. 



with a power which sends its owner flying through the air with the 

 springing-tail extended behind it. 



This attack is so rarely observed in field cultivation with us, that 

 it would hardly be worth noticing, excepting that possibly from its 

 minuteness it may be overlooked as connected with the real mischief 

 which it can cause ; therefore it seems desirable to give enough of the 

 microscopic details to recognise it by. 



The Springtails propagate by laying eggs, and the young, when 

 first hatched, are stated to have the six legs well developed, and to 

 "present a general resemblance to their parents, difi'ering, however, 

 in proportions, colouring, and, in some genera, in the form of the 

 antennae." — (Lubbock.) 



Some, or others, of the different kinds frequent the most difi^erent 

 kinds of localities ; some float by preference on water, or on drainings 

 from hot-beds, and some are found in dry rooms. Some are common 

 amongst grass ; some, as I have seen them, collected in myriads on 

 kitchen-garden paths, as if patches of gunpowder had been spilt there; 

 and rich soil, or decaying vegetable matter lying near the surface, is 

 considered to have special attractions for some kinds. 



If they were found to be seriously injurious in field cultivation, the 

 ordinary dry mixture of lime with sulphur and soot, or other Turnip 

 dressings, thrown as well as could be managed upwards at the under 

 side of the leaves, or wherever the Springtails might be found to 

 collect, would be almost sure to do good, and so would soft-soap 

 syringiugs or washes. But at present there does not seem any reason 

 to fear crop trouble from this cause, and the above note is given to 

 preserve the record of occasional presence. 



Winter Turnip Gnat. Trkhocera Mcwalis, DeGeer. 

 Thaw Gnat. T. reyelationis, L. 



Tkichoceka hiemalis.- — 1 and 2, grub ; 3 and 4, pupa, natural size and magnified. 



The little gnats, or Trichocem, of which one kind is figured above, 

 are bred from small maggots to be found in diflerent kinds of decaying 



