Tortricid Moths. 



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Aptera on Cauliflowers and Celery. 



The Board recently received from Pembrokeshire specimens 

 of insects which were destroying the roots of cauliflowers and 

 celery. These insects were identified by the Natural History 

 Museum as belonging to a genus of Aptera known as Lipura. 

 These insects frequently swarm in the ground, especially in 

 cucumber frames or hot beds, but they attack the roots of 

 almost all plants. Carrots may frequently be found covered 

 with them, particularly those suffering from " rust," and celery 

 also is severely injured, the attack being worst when other 

 insects have mined the outer bleached stalks. 



Lipura and Collembola (another genus of Aptera) feed upon 

 the plants where the tissue is sound just as much as where the 

 plants are diseased. Little is known regarding the life history 

 of Lipura, but it breeds in the soil and the young form re- 

 sembles the adult. 



These insects are always most abundant in damp soil and 

 in wet seasons. Soot and lime worked into the soil with 

 a prong-hoe has been found beneficial in attacks of this and 

 allied species of Aptera. If they are doing harm in only a small 

 area, it would be worth while to inject bisulphide of carbon into 

 the ground where cauliflowers are growing and along the rows 

 of celery. For cauliflowers an ounce to every four square yards, 

 and for celery half an ounce every three yards, alternately on 

 each side of the rows, is the best quantity, care being taken 

 to put it about six inches away from the plants and under 

 the sloping earth, so that it will descend down to the roots. 

 Care must be taken not to let the liquid bisulphide touch the 

 roots of any plants, and it must be remembered that this 

 substance is both poisonous and highly inflammable. 



Larvae of Tortricid Moths. 



The larvae of several tortricid moths do much harm to fruit 

 trees. All these pests can easily be destroyed by arsenical 

 spraying ; but by about the middle of June the larvae are all 

 full fed, and it would not then be worth while to spray them. 



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