LEGUMINOUS PLANTS.— THE BEAN. 



69 



the bean, but to most of the order Leguminosae. 

 These are, Sitona canina, fig. 16; S. lineata, fig. 7, 

 and Otiorhynchus picipes, fig. 17. These attack the 

 bean shortly after its appearance above ground, 

 and continue to feed upon it during the whole 

 progress of its growth. The same means must 

 be applied as no- 

 Fig. 18. ticed above. The 



little beetles, Bru- 

 chus granarius, 

 fig. 9, and B.jlavi- 

 manus, fig. 1 *8, de- 

 posit their eggs 

 in the blossom, to 

 prey afterwards 

 on the ripe seeds. 



A parasitic fun- 

 gus (Uredo fabce) 



yellow- booted bean beetle, abounds on the 

 leaves of the bean 

 towards the latter end of summer. Its effects 

 do not seem to be of great consequence ; were 

 it even so, sulphur applied as has been recently 

 recommended for the destruction of mildew, 

 will lessen, if not totally destroy, this parasite. 



The wire-worm (Cataphagus lineatus, Linn.), 

 fig. 19, belongs to the order Coleoptera, family 

 Elateridse. The perfect insect is about one- 



Fig. 19. 



a, wire-worm; b, caudal joint magnified ; 



C, PERFECT BEETLE ; d, ANTENNA. 



third of an inch in length, and is described by 

 Stephens as being " fuscous, with a griseous 

 pubescence. Head and thorax blackish, the 

 latter with the lateral branches nearly straight, 

 and the posterior angles very acute ; the disc 

 very convex, and thickly punctate ; scutellum 

 fuscous ; elytra broad, a little attenuated, round- 

 ed at the apex, very convex; punctate striated; 

 the stria? disposed in pairs, and united at the 

 apex, griseous yellow, with the alternate nar- 

 rowed interstices fuscous or dusky ; margins 

 and apex of the abdomen ferrugineous ; anten- 

 nae and legs rufo-testaceous ; the femora some- 

 times dusky, rather variable in colour, being 

 more or less pubescent or testaceous." 



The true wire-worms are the produce of vari- 

 ous species of click or skipping beetles, known 

 as skipjacks and spring-beetles in parts of the 

 country, or elaters, as — 



Elater (Adrastus) acuminatus, the acuminated 

 click beetle. 



E. (Athous) longicollis, the long-necked click- 

 beetle. 



VOL. II. 



E. (Athous) niger, the black click-beetle. 

 E. (Agriotes) obscurus, the obscure click-beetle. 

 E. (Melanotus) fulvipes, the tawny-legged click- 

 beetle. 



E. (Lepidotus) holosericeus, the satin-coated 

 click-beetle. 



E. (Agriotes) sputator, the spitting click-beetle. 



E. (Athous) ruficandis, the red- tailed click- 

 beetle. 



E. (Agrypnus) murium, the mouse-coloured 

 click-beetle. 



E. (Dolopius) marginatus, the margined click- 

 beetle. 



One of the natural enemies to these is the 

 genera Fileria — slender worms, which live in 

 wire-worms. Another is Steropus madidus, a 

 ground-beetle or carabus, which feeds on them. 



The millipedes and maggots of gnats are er- 

 roneously called wire-worms ; they are, however, 

 destructive in their way. They belong to the 

 genus lulus. 



I. Londonensis, the London snake millipede. 



/. pilosus, the hairy snake millipede. 



/. pulchellus, the beautiful snake millipede. 



/. punctatus, the dotted snake millipede. 



/. terrestris, the earth snake millipede. 



/. latestnatus, the broad-lined snake millipede. 



The larva} of the Elater are of a yellowish-brown 

 colour, slender, fiat, smooth, and shining, slightly 

 pubescent, resembling the meal-worm ; the body, 

 exclusive of the head, is composed of twelve scaly 

 rings, the last of which is not notched at the 

 tip, as is the case with some of the species ; it 

 has six very short legs, they have a series of 

 spirals on either side ; the under side of the end 

 segment has a fleshy tubercle, employed as a 

 leg, and, when not in use, concealed at the base 

 of the segment. It remains five years in the 

 grub state, in which it is most injurious, and com- 

 mits great devastation among florists' flowers. 

 These grubs are exceedingly destructive to car- 

 rots, potatoes, turnips, cabbages, &c. ; we have 

 not unfrequently lost crops of beans also by 

 them. Various have been the means employed 

 to effect their destruction ; the most simple, 

 and probably the most effectual, is to place slices 

 of potatoes on the point of a stick, and bury 

 them about two or three inches under the sur- 

 face, which should be examined every day, and 

 the wire-worms collected and burned. By these 

 means we succeeded in capturing in a border of 

 carnations no less than 6360 at three takings. 

 The number of traps set was 106, and the ave- 

 rage number of wire-worms per trap was 20 : at 

 one taking we captured 2120. By persevering 

 in this manner for about a fortnight, examining 

 the traps every third day, we so completely 

 cleared the border, that it has been kept stocked 

 with carnations for the last four years, and now 

 we do no lose a plant. Some prefer laying the 

 slices of potatoes on the surface of the ground, 

 as also slices of turnip, and portions of lettuce- 

 stalks, to which the worms are attracted, and 

 may be collected in great numbers. Some re- 

 commend turning up the soil frequently, to ex- 

 pose them to the attacks of birds. Pheasants 

 destroy them in vast numbers, but we are not 

 certain but they do more harm in other ways 



K 



