8 First Report on Economic Zoology . 
which it is dipped should be one pound of Paris green to fifty 
gallons of water. 
For bran bait use 1 lb. of Paris green to 25 lbs. of wheat bran, 
and mix with just enough water to make a mash. 
01 course it should not be placed where poultry go or sheep or 
other stock feed. 
In mangold fields the clover bait might be tried where the 
attack is very bad. 
The fresher the clover the better the results would be. The baits 
should be placed on the ground late in the afternoon. 
The green-stuff might be sprayed with the Paris green before 
being cut — so as to save the trouble of dipping it. 
The Pigmy Mangold Beetle. 
( Atomaria linearis , Stephens.) 
Some beetles sent by a correspondent of the Board from Barn- 
staple that were destroying his mangolds proved to be the Pigmy 
Mangold Beetle (. Atomaria linearis). A similar attack was reported 
to Wye College by Mr. Tlios. Powell. In this case the beetles had 
destroyed a field of mangolds on the Waldershare estate. Miss 
Ormerod has recorded damage to mangolds by an Atomaria which 
she identified as linearis, Stephens. 
As far as is known, these little beetles (Fig. 1, d) destroy the 
sprout of the mangold seed just as it germinates, and later they 
attack both root and the leaves. 
The leaves are gnawed away and gradually die (Fig. 1, c) ; they 
also gnaw away the lower parts of the leaf stalks below the ground 
level and so kill the plants. The tap root is attacked, the damaged 
part turning black (Fig. 1, b). It thus seems that all parts of the 
plants suffer in the young stages and during germination. The 
beetles may be found in great numbers on the ground under clods 
of earth, on the leaves and in the earth around the roots. They 
appear in May and June and seem to decrease in July and August, 
those occurring in the last two months apparently being a second 
brood. Nothing is known of its life-history, but apparently the 
larvae feed below ground, probably on the roots of the plants. 
This attack was first observed in 1839 by M. Bazin at Mesnil 
St. Firrnin, and later Macquart noticed this pest devouring the fields 
of red beet in the environs of Lille to such an extent that whole 
crops were ploughed up. It occurs in Great Britain in many districts 
in great numbers and does much harm ; it is not noticed on accoun 
