776 
Annual Report for 1894 of the Zoologist. 
Under such circumstances, the best plan is probably to sacrifice 
the clover, which is almost sure to go “ sick ” during the winter. It 
should be completely fed off during the autumn, and then treated 
as stubble. After thorough scarifying, a crop of rape might be put 
in as a makeshift. 
The application found most effective in the case of crops affected by 
eelworm is a top-dressing of nitrate of soda, or sulphate of ammonia. 
The Cockchafer. 
Melolontha vulgaris. 
There are indications that the damage wrought by this pest in 
Great Britain is on the increase. It is reported from various locali- 
ties in South Wales, while the 
neighbourhood of Godaiming, 
in Surrey, and parts of Ross- 
shire, N.B., have suffered from 
its ravages. In one case turnips 
were the crop affected, but most 
complaints have reference to 
grass land ; and as in such cases 
the cause of injury is by no 
means so obvious, it is extremely 
likely that much damage to 
grass put down to the score of 
the wireworm is in reality at- 
tributable to this pest. In any 
case, the injury actually traced 
to the grub of the cockchafer is 
sufficiently considerable to make 
it worth while to inquire into 
the measures adopted to combat 
it by agriculturists on the Continent, where it has long been known 
as an extremely formidable foe. Some idea of the magnitude of 
the operations undertaken against it may be gathered from the state- 
ment that in the year 1868, under the directions of Stadelmann, one 
hundred and twenty thousand pounds weight of cockchafers were 
collected in the province of Saxony, and converted into manure by 
the admixture of lime. 
Life-history . — The beetles make their appearance in May, and 
in infested districts are to be found in great numbers during three 
to six weeks. The males, distinguishable by their antennae being 
7- instead of 6-leaved, preponderate, especially during the first part 
of the swarming period. They fiy chiefly in the evening, and remain 
concealed during daylight, but in wooded land their presence is 
indicated by the litter of leaves they knock or bite off, and by their 
excrement, with which the ground is covered. In this stage of their 
life they feed upon the leaves of foliage trees. Their favourite is 
the oak, but they also attack the horse-chestnut maple, birch, 
1. Melolonllia vulgaris, female. 2. Larva, half- 
grown. 3. Rhizotrogus solstitialis, female. 
From life. 
