32 Insect Life : Its Why and Wherefore 
eggs, she may be seen moving about in an 
almost undignified manner with only her 
third pair of legs and the end of her body 
dragging on the ground, her two front 
pairs of legs being up in the air, while 
she every now and again deposits an 
egg. She will probably drop upwards of 
300 eggs. These are of a shiny black 
hue, and conical in shape. This egg laying 
process takes place again in the autumn. 
The hatching will begin in about a 
fortnight, and the grubs remain in the 
ground during the winter. This grub is 
apodal, i.e., has no legs or feet, and bores 
its way into the earth by alternately 
expanding and contracting, and is provided 
with very powerful jaws, these it uses 
upon the underground roots, which it 
attacks with great voracity. When full 
grown it is about an inch long, of a dirty 
greyish colour. These grubs are some- 
times called “ leather-jackets ” because 
of the toughness of their skin. That 
they are fairly plentiful in many 
places may be gathered from the fact that 
over 200 have been discovered in a square 
foot of ground. There is hardly anything 
