592 
IHK  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  [iVIarch  i,  1897. 
So  far  as  I am  aware,  no  further  observations 
were  recorded  on  the  subject  until  about  the  end 
of  the  winter  and  early  spring  in  the  year  1888, 
when  specimen  of  a grub,  minutely  resembling  that 
of  this  species  of  Corn  Ground  Beetle,  were  forwarded 
to  me  as  doing  much  mischief  to  young  wheat  plants 
in  various  parts  of  the  south  aud  east  of  England. 
In  the  summer  of  1885  the  night-feeding  Ground 
Beetle,  Steroims  madidus,  was  sent  me  from  near 
Bishop’s  Stortford,  Herts,  where  specimens  were 
captured  in  act  of  feeding  on  mangold  roots.  These 
beetles  are  partially  carnivorous,  as  one  of  these 
forwarded  to  me  killed  one  of  its  companions,  and 
consumed  its  contents;  but  their  field  work,  being 
about  thrte  in  the  morning,  is  seldom  noticed.  These 
observations  make  it  very  desirable  to  keep  an  eye 
to  the  habits  of  the  many  kinds  of  these  pitchy  or 
brownish  “Ground”  Beetles  that  we  see  so  active 
in  summer  in  corn-fields,  and  which  have  generally 
been  supposed  to  be  employed  in  clearing  off  insect 
vermin. 
The  second  section,  the  Bracli elytra,  commonly 
called  Rove  Beetles,  may  be  generally  known  by 
the  short  wing-cases,  and,  in  the  case  of  the  very 
common  beetles,  sometimes  known  as  Devil’s  Coach 
Horses,  by  their  habit  of  arching  up  their  tails 
when  annoyed.  Some  feed  on  animal  matter,  includ- 
ing other  living  insects,  and  they  much  frequent 
rotten  animal  and  vegetable  matter.  The  grubs  are 
very  like  those  above  described,  but  may  be  known 
by  the  fork  above  the  tail  being  double-jointed,  and 
furnished  with  stiff  hairs.  Both  grubs  and  insects 
help  us  in  clearing  off  other  insect  presence. 
The  third  section  is  that  of  the  Necrophaya,  or 
Clavicornen,  which  includes  beetles  of  very  various 
habits,  but  for  the  most  part  feeding  on  decayed 
matter  (especially  the  division  often  known  as  Sexton 
Beetles,  which  live  for  the  most  part  in  dead 
animals,  carrion,  and  what  we  may  shortly  describe 
as  “filth”  generally).  Their  horns  are  usually 
enlarged  or  club-shaped  towards  the  tip,  or  bent  as 
if  they  had  an  elbow ; and  the  wing-cases  usually 
bend  down  at  the  sides,  so  as  to  cover  the  sides 
of  the  abdomen. 
Some,  like  Caddie,  and  the  Corn  Cucujus,  are 
Corn  feeders,  and  various  kinds  frequent  flowers. 
Of  these  some  species  of  Mdujethcs,  or  Turnip  fl’lower 
Beetles,  are  very  injurious,  and  furnish  one  of  the 
few  examples  of  infestations  which  may  be  satis- 
factorily lessened  when  established  on  the  plant  by 
remedial  measures.  The  little  green  Meligethes 
Beetles  may  sometimes  be  found  on  the  flowering 
shoots  or  rape,  cabbage,  and  turnip,  and  cause  great 
loss  where  the  crops  are  being  grown  for  seed. 
The  beetles  feed  on  the  pollen  in  the  flowers, 
and  lay  their  eggs  in  the  unopened  blossoms ; the 
maggots  from  these  feed  in  the  bud  and  base  of  the 
flowers,  and  the  seed  pods.  As  a remedy  it  is  found 
to  answer  well  to  have  the  infested  tops  and  early 
blooms  of  the  turnips  picked,  and  put,  with  the 
beetles  and  maggots,  into  ba,s  which  are  tied  up 
as  soon  as  full,  and  the  contents  destroyed.  Under 
this  treatment  the  growth  of  flowering  shoots  is 
much  thickened,  a great  deal  of  the  infestation  is 
got  rid  of,  and  the  crop  is  thrown  back  about  a 
fortnight,  which  gives  the  rootlets  increased  time 
or  action,  and  the  plan  is  considered  certainly 
beneficial  in  increase  of  crop,  independently  of  clear- 
ing the  insects. 
The  fourth  section  is  the  very  important  one  of 
the  Laniellicornes  or  Chafers.  Some  of  these  do 
ns  little  harm,  like  the  Stag  Beetles,  of  which 
the  grubs,  so  far  as  I am  aware,  live  in  rotten 
wood;  or,  again,  the  Click  or  Dor  Beetles  f Geotrupidte), 
which  boro  down  into  the  ground,  especially  where 
droppings  are  lying  in  cattle  pastures,  aud  carry 
the  dung  into  the  soil  as  food  for  their  grubs.  But 
there  are  many  kinds,  such  as  the  Small  May-bug 
or  Garden  Chafer  (AnisopUa  horticola),  of  w-hich 
the  grub  does  much  harm  in  pasture  land,  together 
with  another  much  rarer  kind,  (the  A.  ayricola) ; 
also  the  Common  Cockchafer,  the  Groat  Golden 
Chafer,  aud  others  which,  in  this  country,  feed,  in 
the  beetle  state,  on  leaves  of  trees,  or  within 
flowers,  and  as  grubs  on  the  roots  of  grass,  corn, 
or  other  ground  crops,  as  well  as  trees;  and,  in  the 
colonies,  on  the  roots  of  coffee  aud  sugar-cane,  and 
altogether  cause  most  serious  loss. 
The  beetles  are  generally  to  be  known  by  having 
a club  of  several  leaves  on  their  horns,  such  as  the 
fan-like  end  that  we  see  to  the  horn  »f  the  Cock- 
chafer; and  the  grubs  are  large  (sometimes  as  thick 
as  the  finger)  and  fleshy,  with  the  end  of  the  tail 
curved  downwards  and  enlarged,  as  if  it  was  swollen, 
so  that  the  grub  usually  lies  on  its  side.  By  this 
swollen  tail  and  arched  shape,  and  also  by  having 
three  pairs  of  longish  legs  and  strong  jaws,  you  may 
commonly  know  the  chafer  grubs. 
The  habits  of  different  kinds  of  chafers  vary  in 
such  matters,  as  the  depfh  to  which  the  grubs  bury 
themselves,  or  at  which  they  turn  to  chrysalids, 
the  length  of  time  they  pass  in  these  two  states, 
and  also  the  time  of  day,  or  evening,  when  the 
beetles  are  at  rest,  which  is  a very  important  point 
in  regard  to  getting  rid  of  them  ; but  the  life-history 
of  the  common  cockchafer  gives  a good  general  idea 
of  that  of  the  kinds  that  wo  are  most  troubled 
by.  These  beetles  appear  in  early  summer,  and 
feed  on  leafage  of  many  kinds  of  tre'es.  The  females 
lay  their  eggs  in  ground  which  is  either  cracked, 
or  will  allow  of  the.  female  burrowing  down  into  it 
to  lay  (the  state  aud  kind  of  ground  is  an  important 
matter);  she  lays  from  twelve  to  as  many  as  thirty 
eggs,  from  about  four  to  eight  inches  deep.  The 
grubs  from  these  hatch  in  a few  weeks,  aud  feed 
on  roots  ; maybe  devastating  young  fir  plantations, 
or  attacking  flax,  or  carrots,  or  many  other  crops', 
or  ruining  grass  fields ; there  is  a surprising  variety 
m the  kind  of  crop  infested.  After  feeding  for 
three  or  four  years,  they  go  as  much  as  two  feet 
or  more  down  into  the  ground  to  turn  to  chrysalids 
from  which  the  beetles  come  up  in  the  following 
summer,  that  is,  the  fourth  (or,  according  to  other 
opinions,  the  fifth)  summer  after  they  were  hatched. 
A great  point  is  to  keep  the  female  from  going 
down  into  the  ground  to  lay  her  eggs.  Sometimes. 
W'here  the  soil  is  of  soft  vegetable  remains  (as 
amongst  the  coffee  plantations  in  Ceylon),  it  is 
found  that  laying  a coat  of  the  clay  subsoil  on  the 
top  answers;  and,  for  field  treatment,  it  has  been 
advised  to  lay  a good  covering  of  some  harder  mate- 
rial, as  marl  or  road-scrapings,  on  the  surface  or 
to  give  a top-dressing  of  salt  or  gas-lime,  or  some 
application  which  might  make  the  surface  unsuitable 
for  laying.  Probably  gas-lime  would  be  very  ser- 
viceable, and  the  washings  down  from  this  would  be 
likely  to  drive  any  grubs  near  the  surface  away 
foi  a time  at  least,  and  thus  give  the  crop  a respite' 
Gas-water  applied  at  a strength  which  would  not 
hurt  the  grass  has  been  found  to  act  well  • the 
strength,  of  course,  must  be  found  by  trial,  as’  this 
varies  much. 
Where  grubs  are  m unoccupied  ground,  that  is 
after  the  grass  or  crop  has  been  killed  or  gathered’ 
a gpat  many  may  be  got  rid  of  by  ploughing  or 
enough  to  turn  them  up,  and  calling 
111  the  help  of  children  to  collect  and  destroy  them 
or  that  of  the  pigs,  which  will  do  much  work  with- 
out pay.  The  wild  birds  also,  such  as  sea-gulls 
and  rooks,  should  on  no  account  be  driven  away. 
There  is,  however,  another  treatment,  not  nearlv 
enough  thought  of,  which  is  applicable  to  all  cases 
of  infested  land  free  of  crop,  and  that  is  putting  on 
a heavy  killing  dressing.  Caustic  gas-lime  may  thus 
be  used  and  alkali  waste  is  excellent  for  the  nur- 
pose.  -Tliese  are  very  much  alike  in  their  nature 
and  effects ; at  first  they  destroy  everything  they 
touch,  whether  plant  or  insect,  and  the  alkali  waste 
IS  also  used  to  clean  the  ground  of  deep-rooted  weeds 
such  as  couch-grass,  coltsfoot,  and  thistles,  and  is’ 
washed  down  by  r.ain  into  the  soil,  so  as  to  make 
the  drains  run  milky  at  a depth  of  three  feet 
I his  IS  procurable  for  little,  if  any,  outlay,  beyond 
cost  of  carnage  from  chemical  works,  where  it  is 
thrown  out  as  waste.  Now  attention  has  been  drawn 
to  Its  value,  and  it  is  likely  to  be  made  available. 
