INSECT AND OTHER PLANT ENEMIES. 



107 



effective. Traps of Cabbage leaves and baskets 

 of damp moss would lure many, and enable 

 them to be collected. 



Mole -cricket {Gryllotalpa vulgaris). — This 

 insect is 2*^ inches long, and is of a velvety- 

 brown above, and yellowish beneath. It has 

 two bristly tails, a shield-like process on the 

 shoulders, short wing-cases, and membranous 

 wings 2h inches in expanse. The first pair of 

 legs are short, very stout, and furnished with 

 claws like those of the mole; hence the name. 

 The larvse have no wings. It is only found in 

 the south of England, and has horny jaws, with 

 which it destroys the roots of many plants, 

 including Peas, Beans, and other vegetables, as 

 well as grass on lawns, all of which turn yellow 

 and die. It may also be detected by the little 

 heaps of earth which it throws up. Besides 

 eating vegetables, Mole-crickets devour worms, 

 caterpillars and other insects, and one another. 



Remedies. — Trapping is the most effective 

 method of subduing this pest. About September, 

 dig holes in the grass or soil about 3 feet deep 

 and 1 foot wide, filling them with horse dung. 

 The heat attracts them in large numbers to lay 

 up there, and they may be caught in hundreds 

 by digging up the dung at intervals. Pots may 

 be plunged in the soil 2 inches or 3 inches 

 beneath the brim in the haunts of the pest, and 

 many will fall in during their perambulations 

 at night. During dry seasons, fresh turfs may 



Fig. 138.— Mole-cricket {Gryllotalpa vulgaris). 

 1. Eggs. 2 and 3. Larvae of different ages. 4. Mature insect. 



be laid on lawns, and watered every night; 

 here the crickets will resort, and may be caught 

 in the morning. Dig up burrows, destroying 

 both insects and eggs, in June. The eggs are 

 brownish-yellow, and are laid, to the number of 

 300 or 400, about 6 inches below the surface. 



Narcissus Fly (Merodon Narcissi).— This 



bee-like fly is 6| lines long, arid about an 

 inch in expanse, or slightly over. It is black, 

 with a hairy head, shoulders, legs, and abdomen, 



«m d> 



Fig. 139.— Narcissus Fly (Merodon Narcissi). 

 1. Infested bulb ; a and b grub-holes. 2. Grub. 3. Pupa. 4. Insect. 



the hairs on the latter being yellow. The larva, 

 or maggot, is \ inch long, legless, and dirty- 

 yellow or brown. When newly hatched it 

 penetrates the centre of the bulb, feeding upon 

 the scales, causing decay, till full-grown, about 

 the end of November, when it passes into the 

 ground, from whence the fly emerges about the 

 end of March, but more plentifully during the 

 next two months. 



Remedies.- — When planting the bulbs in 

 autumn, affected ones will feel soft and spongy 

 about the neck, and should be destroyed. 

 Earlier in the season, say about August, all 

 suspected bulbs should be submerged in water 

 for seven to ten days, to drown the maggots, 

 which are yet small, and have done but little 

 mischief. The perfect flies may be lured and 

 caught by placing saucers containing strong- 

 smelling molasses about the plantations of 

 Narcissi. 



Nematoid Worms (Tylenchus). — Several 

 species of nematodes, or eel-worms, infest the 

 roots and other parts of various plants in 

 gardens, but their life-histories are but im- 

 perfectly known. They are colourless, micro- 

 scopically small creatures, like eels in miniature, 

 and often do an incredible amount of harm on 

 account of their numbers. Cucumbers are often 

 destroyed by these worms, which penetrate the 

 roots from the soil, causing them to develop 

 swellings, in the cavities of which the pest lives 

 and deposits its eggs, increasing at an alarming 

 rate. A larger species lives in the soft tissues 

 of Carnation leaves, generally near the base, but 

 sometimes higher up. The presence of the 

 worms may be detected by dull or livid patches 



