98 ZOOLOGY. 



attacks the flowers. It perforates the petals, devours 

 the stamens and pollen, and, lastly, the pistil. The 

 infested flowers wither. Three to four beetles are 

 often found in a single flower. The female soon 

 lays her eggs, separately, in the ovary of the flower. 

 One to two weeks later the larvae may be found in 

 the flowers, one or more in each. The larvae, one-fiftieth 

 of an inch long to begin with, are, when ready to 

 become pupae, about one-fifth of an inch long, 

 cylindrical, yellowish white with blackish brown 

 head ; they have three pairs of short thoracic legs, as 

 well as a pair of caudal pro-legs. Each segment of the 

 body has two dark blotches on its upper side. On an 

 average, the larvae reach their full size in four to five 

 weeks. They are first found at the bottom of the 

 flower, where they gnaw the stamens and ovary. 

 They then wander from flower to flower, until ready 

 to become pupae. If there are no more flowers in the 

 neighbourhood they attack the developing pods, first 

 gnaw the green husk, then bore through it and devour 

 the young seeds. Become pupae in the soil. The 

 beetle emerges after a fourteen days' pupa-rest. At 

 least two, usually three, sometimes four generations. 

 Remedy: Rooting out charlock and the species of 

 buttercup. Selection of strongly growing varieties 

 of turnip, rape, etc., which blossom late (and therefore 

 soon finish blooming). Drill-culture. 



Family : Cryptophagidae {Secret-eating Beetles). 



Very minute. Antennae composed of eleven joints, 

 of which the three last form a club. Legs wide apart ; 

 tarsi five-jointed. Live in fiowers, fungi, dead parts 

 of plants, under bark, in the earth, in bumblebees' and 

 ants' nests, etc. The Beet Beetle {Atomaria linearis) 

 is harmful : longish, egg-shaped, strongly convex ; 

 neck-shield as long as broad. Brownish black or 

 dark brown. In fields where beet is cultivated 



