8 
NOTES OF OBSERVATIONS 
to the plant. The perfect Beetles which had survived the winter were 
to he found till the end of May. The autumn swarms, which are 
usually so abundant on the Bed Clover that it is impossible to avoid 
noticing them, were this year totally absent. At Maxwelltown, also, 
Sitones (left, S. crinitus ; right, S. lineatus). 
Mr. Service mentions numerous complaints of this Weevil; otherwise 
it has been little noticed this year. At Sedbury, West Gloucestershire, 
where the Weevils are commonly very plentiful, they are mentioned 
as less numerous than in ordinary years, and also as not nearly so 
abundant as usual at Kingsnortli, in Kent. At Islewortli I saved the 
Peas in my garden from all attack by having them sown in coal 
ashes, which had been well saturated with the mixture known as 
soluble phenyle, used diluted in the proportion of about two table¬ 
spoonfuls of fluid to two gallons of water, the ashes being covered up 
and left some days to get thoroughly imbued with the smell. 
Observations are greatly needed as to where these Weevils lay their 
eggs, and what the larvae feed on. The females lay freely in captivity 
in May, depositing the eggs (apparently at liap-liazard) on any 
accessible surface, whether leaves, earth, or the glass of the cage. 
None of these eggs, however (though presumably fertilised, and treated 
with care), have ever hatched in my own experience. 
4. Agriotes lineatus (and allied spp.). Wireworm Beetle. At 
Dalkeith, Mr. Malcolm Dunn mentions that Wireworms have been 
much less seen or destructive than usual, and in turning up soil 
infested by them they have been observed at a greater depth than 
usual. Mr. Fitch observes that he never remembers these larvae in 
such numbers amongst the Corn so late as in this season, but though 
generally common near Maldon no specially injurious attack occurred. 
In an eleven-acre field of Mangolds the Wireworms were found 
commonly at every hoeing, and in such quantities as to attract the 
attention of the labourers employed when the crop was pulled in the 
