102 



servable in the size and form of petal of a tipped 

 flower and a self of the same variety, and not unfre- 

 quently upon the same plant, as in Modesta, Nihill 

 Surprise, Striata rosea, Esmeralda, and others, is very 

 striking. So great is the alteration, that no one could 

 know them to be the same sorts, except from their 

 foliage and habit of growth. No one can hesitate 

 from agreeing that this change also arises from the 

 different degrees of fertility possessed by the soils on 

 w r hich they are grown. 



INSECTS. 



Every part of the dahlia is subject to predatory at- 

 tacks : its tubers to those of the wireworm ; its leaves 

 to those of the aphis and slug; and its flowers to 

 those of the earwig. 



The Wireworm, which attacks the tubers of the 

 dahlia, is the larva of a species of click beetle, spring 

 beetle, or skip jack, bearing the specific entomologica, 

 name of Elater spatator. It similarly attacks the 

 potato, carrot, and lettuce. 



This insect belongs to the order Coleoptera, or 

 beetles, and to the family of Elateridae. There are 

 nearly seventy species natives of the British Isles, but 

 there are only six of the Elater genus, and to these 



