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JOtJENAL OF HOEIICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



[ March 9, 1S7!. 



that in my snbnrban garden plct, brick-Eurronnded and smoky 

 as it is, I had seen during the previous Eummer indubitable 

 " skip-jack " beetles, of small dimensions, and it followed as a 

 natural inference, that it would be by no means unlikely that 

 lar-VEe were feeding net very far off from where imagos had been 

 seen. Out with the spade, drive it into the peculiar com- 

 position which in town gardens we call mould ! Alas ! recent 

 frosts have rendered the ground rather unmanageable, and after 

 some efiorts I fell back for consolation on the "fox and 

 Grapes " fable — there are no wireworms here, or, if there are, 

 they won't be worth the trouble I am bestowing upon them. 

 Deserting the garden for the library, I see no reason, never- 

 theless, for dropping my design altogether ; something may 

 be said historically upon the wireworm now, as this is the 

 season of the year when in gardening operations it is occasion- 

 ally unearthed, and as very shortly, with the returning warmth 

 of spring, its ravages will be more considerable. At a future 

 date some additional facts may be appended regarding this 

 rather memorable insect. 



The wireworm or wireworms, for they should certainly 

 be_ spoken of in the plural, though, perhaps, greater ene- 

 mies to the agriculturist than to the horticulturist, exert very 

 injurious influences in kitchen gardens during some seasons. 

 Alore particularly are they likely to show themselves in 

 ground which has been recently converted from pasture to 

 garden ground. And it is very necessary to bear in mind that 

 other creatures besides the Elater larvse have been, and ftill 

 are, designated by this name. Millipedes and centipedes have 

 been called wireworms, and also the larva of some of the 

 Tipula!. This is coming rather near the mark, but still in- 

 correct. Wireworms are the larva; of certain beetles belonging 

 to the family Elateridte, a section of the Coleopterous order, in- 

 cluding some remarkable insects. In America there are phos- 

 phorescent species, mostly belonging to the genus Pyrophorus. 

 One very common in Mexico and Brazil (P. noctilucus) is called 

 the Cucnjo. These are used as adornments for the hair, and 

 shed suihcient light to enable one to read. Like the glow- 

 worms, they can modify the hght at will, by interposing a 

 membranous film. This luminosity appears to come from 

 what a writer calls its "phosphorescent bumps," though the 

 abdomen emits a light also. But this circumstance is ehiefiy 

 interesting when taken in connection with the fact that one of 

 our British Elaters, if not more, has a similar power. Mrs. 

 Cox has referred to this species as the wireworm, and alludes 

 to the injuries it produces in hotbeds and greenhouses, where 

 it does mischief, especially to Melons and Cucumbers. No 

 doubt this is true in a measure, yet an investigation of the 

 works of various authors who have published their obser- 

 vations on the different species of Elater, leaves us in some 

 difficulty as to which should be most deeply stigmatised 

 amongst them as injurious to garden or field produce. Modern 

 entomological science, as we know, tends to the multiplication 

 of genera, and the old genus Elater has been split up con- 

 siderably. They are, in the perfect 

 state, noticed by even the generally 

 unobservant, and popularly known as 

 " skip-jack," or " click " beetles. Some 

 have received distinctive English names 

 — merely the echoes, thcugb, of their 

 Latin appellations, such as the acumi- 

 nated click beetle, the long-necked, the 

 tawny-legged, the satin-coated, the mar- 

 ginated, the red-tailed, and so on. This 

 matters not much, however, to the gar- 

 dener, who heeds not very much mi- 

 nute distinctions ; so long as the general 

 habit of the species enumerated be the 

 same, or nearly so, he will be content 

 to say, modifying Byron's quotation, "Arcades ambo"— that is, 

 translating freely, " blackguards are ye all." 



Keally destructive as are the wireworms while in that stage, 

 the beetles they produce are highly curious, their saltatorial 

 propensity enabling them to execute manceuvres which are 

 puzzling, yet easily understood when explained. Eirby, com- 

 menting on Cuvier, points out that his observation regarding 

 vertical leaps, which he said could only be taken by birds and 

 by man, is incorrect, since the Elaters very frequently (though 

 not always) spring in this manner. Hold one of these fellows 

 tight so that he cannot move, and he still produces his peculiar 

 rap, and yon are surprised at the wonderful amount of strength 

 contained in so small an organisation. Were it not for this 

 natural provision, individuals of this tribe when they fell up m 



"Wireworms, 



their backs would have exceeding difficulty in regaining their 

 legs, and a continuance in such a posture beyond a certain, 

 time is death to beetles, as to many other insects. A beak at 

 the extremity of the presternum is the main agent in the move- 

 ment. The head and abdominal extremity touch whatever 

 surface the beetle may be resting upon ; then, as it unbends, 

 this point strikes into the hollow of the ring next to it, and as 

 the back comes down to the level, the jerk mounts it into the 

 air to a distance of 6 or 8 inches or more. 



The larvEe or grubs of the different species under consider- 

 ation are assuredly wiry enough to merit the common name, 

 or, at least, the first half of it ; the second is lees appropriate, 

 since they have six very distinct legs. A figure which is given 

 in Figuier's "Insect World," representing one, is probably 

 much too dark, the colour being, I believe, greyish white 

 usually, or a yellowish brown in some instances noticed. The 

 wireworm has been compared to the meal worm, being slender, 

 flat, and shining ; the legs are short, adapted to the burrowing 

 life it leads, and at the extremity is a tubercle, which serves as 

 a fulcrum is case of need. Many years ago, Eiroy, in his in- 

 vestigations into the economy of predatory insects, ascertained 

 that in Norfolk and Suffolk Elater obscurus (of Marsham) 

 committed extensive ravages. More recent observers in Scotland 

 describe this as being still a very injurious species there. 

 " Indeed," says Mcintosh, " the presence of wireworms in 

 soils cropped with autumn-planted Potatoes is more to be 

 dreaded than the frost." 'The species named by LinnEeus 

 E. lineatus has been repeatedly commented upon as one of the 

 farmer's pests, though its ravages have been remarked as ex- 

 tending also to gardens. In addition to the tubers of the 

 Potato, Carrots, Turnips, Cabbages, and Beans, have in turn 

 suffered from the subterranean work of the larvje of some 

 Elater. That choice and troublesome plant, the Asparagus, 

 has its buds perforated under ground, while the offender not 

 nnfrequently escapes scot free, for owing to the mole-like life 

 led by the wireworms, the work of their jaws is ascribed at 

 times to worms, slugs, &c. It has been stated, too, that like 

 the cockchafer, some at least of the species exist for several 

 years in the larval stage, resting, at least partially, during the 

 winter season. Not at all improbable is it, however, that 

 under certain circumstances they feed on through the winter, 

 as is known to be the case with many subterranean larvie. 



Deep digging has been recommended as tending to reduce 

 the numbers of the wireworm, but it is only a very partial 

 remedy, and of limited application. Trap-setting done at the 

 proper season is of much advantage. The best plan seems to 

 be that of placing slices of Potato on the points of sticks, and. 

 burying these beneath the ground to the depth of some inches. 

 Every day or two they should be pulled up, and the " catch " 

 disposed of by burning. Traps on the surface of the earth, 

 have also been tried with some success — not only pieces of 

 Potato, but also slices of Turnip, and the stalks of Lettuces. A 

 writer on gardening states, that by persevering in these modes 

 he captured many thousands in a fortnight's time in a Car- 

 nation border, which was infested. Spirit of tar and the refuse 

 lime of gasworks have been also used as destructive agents 

 where they could be applied. Bat the oddest remedy, perhaps,, 

 is that which checks the ravages of the wireworm by cram- 

 ming it to death with luxurious food. Rape cake broken into 

 small pieces is drilled into the ground — say a few weeks before 

 Carrots are sown, where that vegetable is in danger. This ie 

 most effective, so it is said, in dry seasons, and the larva 

 devours this food until it dies of repletion. Perhaps so, yet X 

 am half inclined to suppose that its death is hardly to be 

 accounted for on the repletion theory, since over-gorging does 

 not appear to prevail in the insect world. It may be that the 

 oily bait is unwholesome to its constitution, though pleasant to 

 its palate.— J. E. S. C. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S MEETINGS. 



The Anniversary Meeting of this Society was held in the rooms of. 

 the Linnean Society, at Burlington Honse, on the 23rd of January, 

 when Mr. A. B. Wallace was re-elected President, and the roatiiie 

 business transacted. A satisfactory report of the Society's accounts 

 was read, and the President delivered an annual address, reriewing 

 the entomological proceedings and publications of the past year, and 

 discussing at great lenqth a paper on the geographical distribution of 

 Coleopterous insects lately published by Mr. A. Murray, in the course 

 of which the President dissented from most of Mr. Murray's views. 

 A vote of thanks to the President for his address was passed, and the 

 address has since been published and distributed among the members. 



The February Meeting of the Society took place on the Gth o£ 



