60 



INJURIOUS INSECTS AND FUNGI. 



[Sept. 1894. 



This, owing to the characteristic decomposing processes caused 

 by the temporary formation of sugar or similar reducing sub- 

 stances, prepares the medium for the bacteria and myceh'a, 

 ah^eady penetrating from the exterior. More detailed informa- 

 tion as to the conditions of cultivation under which the tubers 

 were produced cannot be obtained. The disease, moreover, 

 resembles in many respects the various morbid appearances 

 which are found simultaneously in the sugar beet, and which 

 have been for the present collectively included under the name 

 of " bacterial gummosis.'' 



The Antler Moth (Charwas graminis). 



The caterpillars of this moth occasionally do much harm to 

 pastures, meadows, and sheep-runs in this country. Their injury 

 has been principally confined to sheep-runs in mountainous 

 districts. In 1881 there was a somewhat serious attack near 

 Clitheroe and the district round Pendle Hill, as described by 

 the editors of the Entomologists Monthly Magazine. It is 

 stated that these caterpillars travelled together in thousands, 

 and devastated the land over which they passed to an alarming 

 extent. Much harm was done by them in 1884 to hill pastures 

 in Glamorganshire, upon an area of about 10 miles, near 

 Bridgend. Upon the continent of Europe these caterpillars 

 frequently destroy corn as well as grass plants. 



Themoth is called Antler " on account of the markings on 

 its fore- wings resembling the branches of antlers. Its fore- wings 

 are brownish with white streaks. The hind-wings are grey or 

 brownish grey with pale fringes. The female lays from 200 to 

 300 eggs in the autumn. Many entomologists state that eggs 

 are hatched in about three weeks, and the larvae from these 

 hibernate among the roots of plants. Buckler, however, who was 

 a careful observer, and is corroborated by Staunton, says " the 

 " straw-coloured eggs are laid in the autumn and undergo 

 " one or two changes of colour, the last change not long before 

 " the larvae are hatched, some time in spring ; the exact date 

 " varying according to the character of the season. They feed 

 " on grass, showing no decided preference beyond that of 

 " choosing the smooth and hard grasses rather than hairy and 

 " woolly species ; they feed up in summer, retire underground, 

 " and make neat oval chambers for their retreat during pupa- 

 " tion, and the moths appear at the latter end of summer or the 

 " beginning of autumn." Mr. Buckler adds that through the 

 kindness of correspondents he had been supplied with eggs of 

 this species, and had reared the larvse from them to full growth. 



