54 
MANGOLD. 
Their method of life is for the egg to be laid a little below the 
surface of the ground; the maggots, which hatch from these eggs, 
may be found as early as August, and feed on roots, or they may be 
frozen hard without injury, if in their shelters under ground during 
the winter. Towards April they turn to chrysalids, from which the 
weevils soon come out. 
On June 10th Mr. Warner wrote to me from the Nurseries, 
Leicester Abbey, regarding an attack of brown beetle-like insects, 
which appeared, as he said, to be “ almost omnivorous,” and, after 
giving a list of attacked plants, further noted, “ They are now materially 
injuring twelve acres of Mangel Wurzel .” From the specimens accom¬ 
panying these proved to be Otiorhynchus sulcatus and 0. picipes, some¬ 
times known as the Vine Weevil and Clay-coloured Vine Weevil, 
though they by no means confine their attacks to Vines. 
It is a curious coincidence that this year three kinds of attacks to 
Mangolds are reported, in which the pests, whether insects or insect- 
allies, are wingless, and, excepting in such cases as they have migrated 
on to the land, it suggests the idea that they have come in manure. 
The Vine Weevil, the Otiorhynchus sulcatus, is especially to be found 
in Vine-borders, which, as we know, are largely formed of dung; and 
the Millepedes, as observed at page 47, were found clustering round 
pieces of bone in the manure, and possibly examination another year 
might throw some light on this circumstance. 
With regard to the Otiorhynchi in the Mangolds, it is probable that 
the regular processes of farm cultivation will destroy any grubs in the 
ground, and thus prevent attack being continued on the same land 
next year. Where these or allied weevils establish themselves in 
vinery borders, in Strawberry beds, or in Raspberry plantations, 
where the surface cannot be thoroughly turned and disturbed so as to 
throw the grubs out, there is great difficulty in clearing them. The 
damage is sometimes very serious, as in 1878, when the loss in 
Raspberry plantations in Cornwall was estimated at many hundreds 
of pounds,—in one instance amounting to £100 on only two acres. 
But in open and empty land skimming the surface would turn the 
grubs out from their shelters to the action of the weather and to birds, 
and if a good salting or application of caustic-lime was added it would 
probably do all that was needed. 
As the attack of Otiorhynchus weevils is one that is often enquired 
about, figures are given greatly magnified, as well as life-size, of the 
maggots and chrysalids of 0. picipes , one of the common kinds 
mentioned above, and also of 0. niger , of which the maggots feed at 
the roots of Pine and Larch. 
