6 
NOTES OF OBSERVATIONS 
or the devastating swarms of Aphides, as about the 25tli of July, 18G9. 
This year the weather influences, taken in the main, have been those 
of a drenching and mild winter, followed by an intermittently wet and 
sunless summer, and a dry early autumn, again followed by great 
rainfall. 
The reports of insect observations are :— 
1. Halticidse, var. sp. Turnip Flea Beetle, or “Fly.” The 
absence of this insect is noted at Inverurie, Aberdeenshire; in Essex, 
and in the Exeter and South Devon district in connection with wet 
weather; and its slight presence at Maxwelltown, Dumfries, where the 
summer was unusually cold and wet; whilst at Stratlifield Turgiss, 
Hants, where the rainfall was only about half that of South Devon, as 
taken at Teignmoutli in May, the Fly was then abundant. At Kneb- 
worth, Herts, an example is given of the value of surrounding weeds 
to the farm insects as a means of support till the crops are ready for 
attack, in the appearance of the Turnip Fly, mentioned by Mr. Benj. 
Brown as appearing first on Charlock in fields where Turnips had 
grown the previous year, and then causing great injury to the Kohl 
Babi and Turnips; this especially in dry weather. In North 
Lancashire, where vegetation was unusually backward at the end of 
May, the Fly was likewise very injurious; and near Marlborough, 
where a great outburst in one locality came with the warmth of the 
later weeks of June, we are obliged to Mr. Tanner, of Ogboume 
Maizey, for details of a remedy, which he mentions as having tried 
successfully in previous years. The plan followed is to drive a large 
flock of sheep on the attacked field early in the morning, whilst the 
dew is still on the leaf, and with the help of a dog to keep them in 
constant motion, and well up in a body, so as to tread over all the 
field in turn. Treated in this way no injury is done to the crop ; but 
if much ground has to be gone over it should be taken on different 
days, as it would injure the sheep to keep them long without food, or 
to harass them by the continued driving early in the morning. In 
this case the extent of ground was thirty-seven acres, and from four 
hundred to-five hundred sheep were put on. The fly, when I saw it 
at the end of June, was so strong as to threaten clearing the crop, and 
it had almost been decided to plough it up ; but this treatment, which 
embodies disturbing and killing many of the insects by the treading, 
and which also makes the leaves distasteful for oviposition, both by 
rubbing of the sheep and the coat of dust scattered in dry weather, 
saved the plants, and was followed by a good crop. In my own 
garden, near Islewortli, where the Fly had been present, and some- 
