INSECT AND OTHER PLANT ENEMIES. 



103 



with those of the Cattleya Fly, and there are 

 some doubts as to whether the former is not the 

 real enemy and the latter its parasite. 



Remedies. — Drastic as it may seem, the best 

 remedy yet discovered is to cut off the swollen 

 portions of roots, gouty young growths, and 

 also the flower-stems having galls upon them, 

 and burn the same while the maggots are in 

 them. Should the flies be discovered upon the 

 wing, strong tobacco fumigation should be re- 

 sorted to with the view of preventing the laying 

 of eggs. Pursue these methods till the pest is 

 exterminated, and closely examine every fresh 

 importation from whatever source to guard 

 against fresh infection. 



Cockchafer (Melolontha 'vulgaris). — The male 

 of this beetle is about an inch long, with a comb- 

 like process of seven plates at the apex of the 

 horns. The body is black, covered with gray 

 down, and gradually narrowed to a point at 

 the tail end, while the sides are furnished with 

 several triangular white spots of hairs. The 

 wing-cases are reddish-brown. The female is 

 smaller, and the horns have only six plates. 

 She lays her eggs 7 inches or 8 inches below 

 the surface of the soil, and these, when hatched, 

 give rise to large fleshy -white grubs with six 

 legs, a pale-brown head, and a large livid-blue 

 patch at the tail end. They are sluggish, lie 

 in the form of a curve, and take three years to 

 attain full size; all this time they feed upon 

 the roots of grass, fruit-trees, and Roses, some- 

 times doing serious damage, and always un- 

 welcome in a garden or grass land. The perfect 

 beetle makes its appearance in May or June, 

 flying and feeding by night on the leaves of 

 Apple and other trees, and hanging sluggishly 

 upon them, sometimes in large clusters. May 

 Bug is another popular name of the insect. 



Remedies. — Where the beetles abound in 

 garden or orchard, two men should be deputed 

 to inspect the trees about mid-day; one could 

 carry a wide -mouthed sack, while the other 

 fetches down the beetles into it. Tie the mouth 

 of the sack and sink it in a tank to drown the 

 cockchafers, after which they may be given to 

 pigs, which are fond of them. When digging 

 ground infested with this pest, making or renew- 

 ing grass lawns, or lifting fruit-trees, boys may 

 be employed to collect the grubs as they are 

 dug up. Grass that is being rendered unsightly 

 by the roots being gnawed may be watered 

 with ammoniacal liquor diluted to ten times 

 its bulk with water. During rainy weather, 

 undiluted liquid manure may be freely used. 

 Guano is also a useful fertilizer, and helps to 



drive the grubs deeper into the soil. Use it at 

 the rate of 2 cwts. to an acre, 56 lbs. to a quarter 

 of an acre, or 1*4 lb. to the rod. On an exten- 

 sive scale a water-cart may be employed to 

 distribute the liquids, or the " Strawsoniser" 

 may be used for liquids or solids. Encourage 

 starlings, ducks, and chickens in gardens or 

 orchards, but the latter only where their scratch • 

 ing can be tolerated. Tame gulls, lapwings or 

 pewits, and even the common rook may be kept 

 in gardens by clipping a wing; they destroy 

 grubs largely. 



Daddy Long- legs or Crane-flies. — 

 There are several species of gnat familiar under 



Fig. 131.— Crane-flies or Daddy Long-legs (Tipula Oleracea and 



T. paludosa). 



1. Eggs. 2. Maggot. 3. Pupa-case vacated by the gnat of Tipula Oleracea. 



4. Female of Tipula paludosa. 



the above names, and Tipula Oleracea is one of 

 the commonest and most destructive. It has 

 long, slender ochreous legs, a tawny body with 

 a dusty bloom, and slate-coloured on the back, 

 while the wings are smoky, with yellowish- 

 brown nerves, and longer than the body. The 

 maggots are legless, earthy in colour, about an 

 inch long when full grown, and very tough- 

 skinned; hence the familiar name of Leather- 

 jackets. There are two broods of flies, one in 

 spring, and the other from the beginning of 

 August onwards. The maggots eat the roots 

 of a large number of garden plants, as well as 

 of grass. T. paludosa is also very common, 

 especially in wet soils, and is similar to the 

 above, but the wings are shorter, and the back 

 is not slate-coloured. The grubs infest Turnips 

 and Beet. On drier soils a smaller species, 

 named T. maculosa, is destructive to Lettuce 

 and Potatoes. The fly is bright-yellow, spotted 

 with black, and has smoky-yellow wings with 

 brown nerves. Other species occur in gardens, 



