Daddy Longlegs and Surface Caterpillars 57 



The Daddy Longlegs grub is about an inch long, of a 

 brownish colour with two light coloured lines down its back. 

 It puts out at pleasure its black head, furnished with strong 

 jaws. The tail end is cut square and has several tubercles. 

 It has no legs, but moves about easily and quickly. 



Eggs are laid in the autumn, conical in shape, shining 

 black in colour, and very numerous. One female will lay 

 300 eggs. They are hatched, in fifteen days, and the grubs 

 remain in the earth during the winter, feeding on corn a.nd 

 grass roots while the weather is open, and going down 

 deeper during hard frost. They continue to feed from 

 October until the end of August, when pupation takes 

 place, after which the huge unwieldy flies soon come 

 forth. 



Surface Caterpillars. 



2. 



1. Caterpillar of the Turnip Moth (Agrotis segetum.) 



2. Caterpillar of the Heart and Dart Moth {Agrotis exclamationis.) 



The Surface Caterpillars are \\ inch long, greyish or 

 greyish-brown in colour, with sixteen feet. They are 

 hatched out in the beginning of the summer and feed 

 until the spring unless stopped by hard frosts, when they 

 retreat to cells formed in the ground. The caterpillars feed 

 mainly on mangels, turnips, and other cruciferous plants, 

 and are very troublesome to lettuces, carrots, and other 

 garden and market garden crops. They also eat grain, corn, 

 and grasses. 



Suitable methods for preventing and remedying the 

 attacks of the grubs of the Daddy Longlegs are given in 

 Leaflet No n, and of the Surface Caterpillar in Leaflet 

 No. 33, both of which may be obtained, free of charge, upon 

 application to the Secretary of the Board of Agriculture, 

 4, Whitehall Place, S.W. 



