BEET-CARRION BEETLE. 
61 
jointed legs, and of a sliiny black colour, sometimes tawny or yellowish 
at the edge. They feed on the young leaves of the Mangolds, some¬ 
times clearing away the plants entirely just when the first leaves are 
coming up ; from about the beginning to the middle of July appears 
the time for them to turn to chrysalids. The grubs then go down 
about three or four inches deep into the ground, from which the 
beetles begin to appear in about three weeks. 
The perfect beetles may be found during winter or early in the 
spring sheltering under stones, or in the moss or rotten wood, or clods, 
&c., and are common in April in dead animals. 
Where the eggs are laid from which the grubs hatch that attack the 
Mangolds does not appear to have been recorded. It may be under 
decaying matter in the field,—the S. citrata has been found to lay eggs 
“in decaying leaves, or just at the surface of the ground”; but, 
looking at the nature of the beetle, it seems much more likely it 
should be in some specially rank kind of manure, and the eggs thus be 
brought, or the beetles thus attracted, to the field ; offal and sea-weed, 
or shore-refuse, are special points to be looked to, and likewise the 
possibility of the beetles being brought amongst decayed leaves, in 
which they winter. 
With regard to remedy when attack is present, nothing appears to 
have been observed, excepting that lime and salt have both failed to 
be useful; but it is very likely that dressings of paraffin mixed in dry 
earth or ashes, or the mixture of gas-lime, sulphur, &c., recommended 
some years ago by Mr. Fisher Hobbs as a Turnip Fly preventive, 
would either of them be of service, if sprinkled when the dew was on, 
or on a damp day, so as to adhere to the leafage. The proportions are 
as follows :—One bushel of gas-lime, one bushel of lime fresh from the 
kiln, six pounds of sulphur, and ten pounds of soot, well mixed and 
powdered. To be applied early in the morning. The above is 
enough for two acres, and a broadcast machine is recommended as an 
expeditious way of spreading it. 
The attack is not noted as affecting other kinds of root or “ vege¬ 
table ” crops. Turnips, Carrots, Potatoes, Parsnips; likewise Peas, 
Beans, and Cabbage are mentioned as succeeding admirably on land 
where Mangolds were destroyed. Therefore, if the Mangold is swept 
off (as sometimes happens) in the seed-leaves, another kind of crop 
could be put in immediately, which gets over a very frequent difficulty 
as to a crop-pest in possession taking everything that may be put in 
to the infested land. If, however, the crop has any life left in it, it 
seems best with this special kind of attack to let it stand, for the grubs 
only eat for a moderate length of time, and during the lull, whilst 
they are going through their changes in the ground, there is time for 
the centres of the plants to push up again and grow past danger. 
