THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 389 



sown, and having suffered less from the drought. The Aphis 

 prevailed with me, and did last year in circular patches; and 

 not to any greater extent this year than last. I hear that 

 East Lothian has suffered much. The worst, hereabouts, is 

 near Wooler; and those I saw on the Tees were also 

 very bad." 



From East Lothian I have a communication from a com- 

 petent authority, Mr. R. Scot Skiiving, of Camptown. He 

 is of opinion, in which I join him, that in Scotland we have 

 little to fear from the "surface-grubs" of the Lepidopterous 

 genus Agrotis, which Mr. Newman, in the 'Field' and the 

 'Entomologist,' considers to be so hurtful to the turnip. A 

 much more deadly "grub" is that of the Tipula oleracea, or 

 "crane-fly," which eats through the root just below the 

 surface, and soon clears half a field. From this grub, this 

 season, Mr. Skirving has lost, at least, thirty acres of turnips. 

 He go'es on to say: — "The *fly' took the first sowing, 

 the drought the second, and the crane-grub the third. From 

 Tranent to Edinburgh, and all round Portobello, the turnips 

 looked magnificent up to the end of August; and they 

 almost caused me to 'envy and grieve at the good of my 

 neighbour,' as I travelled on the railroad ; but the turnip 

 louse came and destroyed the Swedes, root and branch, and 

 the fields became bare ; whilst the soft turnips became bright 

 orange, then dirty yellow and withered up, as if scorched by 

 fire. This seemed rather disease than insect-work. Farms 

 between Tranent and Edinburgh seem peculiarly liable to 

 this, though I have seen it come all over the lower half of 

 East Lothian. It does not attack Swedes." 



The migrating epoch of the turnip Aphids took place in 

 the end of September, as soon as the wings had developed ; 

 and for more than a week, during the calm and genial 

 weather, they rose in succession from the turnip-fields along 

 the valleys of the Till and Glen, till they became almost 

 incorporated with the air, so intensely crowded they became. 

 They grew very troublesome to those who had to go out. 

 One had almost to breathe them. At night, or during dull 

 days, they stuck to the threshold, to the grass by wall sides, 

 or gathered upon hedges or trees. Many fell into the waters, 

 or were svve})t from the grass on the brink. Be^iting the 

 bushes for insects at Heathpool, I got my umbrella so filled 



