114 



dark :v'igs. The}' live exclusively beneath the soil and, 

 although they devour a considerable amount of dead 

 vegetable matter, their staple diet seems to consist mainly 

 of the roots of various plants. They are specially conmion 

 m damp parts of meadovv^s. vdierever there is rank herbage, 

 especially grass. Leather Jackets feed mostly at night 

 vrhen they often come to the surface of the soil. W hen 

 fully fed they turn ro elongate pupa:-, \vhich iorce their 

 Wcr- ''"ice of the -oil, where the}' may be often 



se;:_ - abc'Ut half their length verticallv out 



of the grcvnd, t ' ttn; r lies issue late in the spring 

 and la}' their Oia,..t tndle--haped eggs on or near the 

 surface of the ground. These eggs gi^'e rise to the Leather 

 Jackets which e\'eiituall}' transform into a second brood 

 of Flies appearing m great numbers during August and 

 September. Tli? lace brood of Crane Flies is ahways more 

 abundant btt th^ -nring on^, their eggs develop into 

 lar^'te v;hi ■ u all through the winter. 



The}' are t v, _u jui:cia]iL ; - ^~ ^^t"iis in low-lying 



dist^'ict^. and it is advisabL - - to roll heavily 



an^' "' ;ass clc= , Loliing at the proper 



sea: 1 ihe pupa: . " done regularly after dark 



a large iramber of the laf .ild probabl}' also be 



destro}'ed. "When numbers thorough turn- 



nig of the soil lu '^ k .'"inter renders the larv^ 



accessible to rook.^. -lar:: ^ taid other birds which prey 

 upon them m large nun ' A 9:cod soil dressing is 



I to 2 cwts, of nitrate c : - " acre, and although 



Leather Jackets are stisc . _ - titects. the}' are by 



a t atean- ak."a}'S eradicated. Gas lime is onh' doubtfullv 

 enective. Thecbald advi-'f-s the use of traps of partiallv 

 buried turf as a device ftt viticing the Flies to la}' their 

 eggs, and aLo to attract the larvae from the adjacent soil. 

 To arrt.rt itcal attacks m parts of lawns and beds i oz. of 

 carbon bisulphide to each Svquare }'ard injected b}' means 

 of a Vermorel injector, or other -uitable instrument, to a 

 depth of about 6 inches is usually quite effective. 



The Pear klidge [Di-plosi: fyrrjor ' ' \ is one of the 

 worst enemies of pear erov/ers. All varieties appear to be 

 attacked b}' thi= Lisact. I'ait it is not known to affect any 

 other kind ; ^^;"ut. The adult tvlids^e is onh' about iin. 

 long and :kish-o-re}' or black in colour; the female 



can be di-ruicpushed from the male b}' the abdomen ter- 

 minating in a long pointed egg-la}'ing instrument or 



