108 Insect Life : Its Why and Wherefore 
to the surface during the autumn, while 
the larger number, not being perfectly 
matured or hardened, remain in the pupal 
cells until the following spring. When 
about to mature they go deeper into the 
soil before appearing as the perfect click 
beetle. The wire- worm and its parents, 
while common to almost every part of the 
globe, differs slightly in size, shape and 
structure in different climates, the Click 
beetle in some parts of the world being 
quite luminous, but there is this point in 
common everywhere — these little sub- 
terranean pests are most harmful to crops. 
Not only does the farmer suffer but the 
kitchen garden and the flower garden 
come in for attention. And just as a 
carefully-kept garden may become a 
veritable bed of thistles through some 
immediate neighbour allowing thistles to 
grow up and seed and cast its thistle-down 
abroad, so a dirty, ill-drained piece of land 
may become the breeding place of endless 
numbers of click beetles which will spread 
their progeny over a district. It stands 
to reason that it is far more easy to clear 
a garden of wire-worms than say a five acre 
