NIGHT-FEEDING GROUND BEETLE. 
51 
caustic-lime or gas-lime (with due care), or salt, would be the proper 
remedy. 
Cotton-cake has been found to attract them from the attacked 
crops, and the overwhelming fondness of the Pink-spotted Millepede 
(J. guttatus ) for Mangolds may be turned to account, in attacks on 
special crops, by placing slices of Mangolds for traps, which I have 
seen swarming (when removed) with the Millepedes crawling over them 
in all directions. 
Night-feeding Ground Beetle. Steropus madidus, Fab. 
STEROPUS MADIDUS. 
Ground Beetle. Mangold-roots eaten by the same. 
The following observation is of somewhat special interest, on 
account of the beetle to which it refers being one of the Ground 
Beetles, a section which, until a few years ago, was supposed to live 
almost entirely on animal food, such as worms, grubs, maggots, and 
the like, and therefore were thought helpful in keeping down insect 
vermin ; and this special kind, the Steropus madidus , was known as 
preying by night s or at dawn. 
During the last few years, however, various kinds of these 
Geodephaga, or Ground Beetles, have been found to feed on vegetable 
food, including rootlets, seeds, or other parts of grass and corn ; and 
on June 29th the following note of careful observation of the attack 
of the Steropus on Mangolds was forwarded to me from The Grange, 
Bishops Stortford, Herts, by Mr. T. James Mann, with specimens of 
the beetles accompanying. Mr. Mann wrote as follows :— 
“ I send you two beetles, which were found at 3 a.m. this morning 
eating my Mangolds on this farm. I am sorry to say I have lost a 
good many plants. The soil was manured with ten loads farm-yard 
manure, 4 cwts. superphosphate, and 2 cwts. of salt.” 
A little later on more of the beetles were forwarded which had been 
caught also early in the morning in act of eating Mangolds , together with 
