WIRE WORM AND CLICK BEETLE. 
25 
In the Isle of Man, though the Wireworm attack is for the most 
part less than usual, yet estimates of amount of damage at various 
localities run as follows :— 
1 boll to the acre on Oats; about 2 bolls* per acre, or about a 
quarter of the crop of Wheat. Half a crop of Turnips ; 6 tons 
of Turnips where 15 tons were expected ; 1 \ tons of Turnips, l-8th 
the expected crop lost per acre ; and a loss of T10 per acre on Carrots 
in a previous season is noted, per P. M. C. Kermode, Ramsey. 
If we look now merely at the amount of injury named in the fore¬ 
going estimates, beginning at the lowest direct loss stated, we find two 
instances of this being about an eighth of the crop ; one of loss of two- 
fifths ; two of a quarter; two of a quarter to half; and four mention 
a loss of half of the crop. Two entries give notes respectively of the 
entire loss of a field of Wheat, and of crops having been ploughed in. 
Of the others of the 17 returns which give definite amounts of loss, one 
is at a rate of 5 bushels, another of 2 quarters per acre. An average of 
loss near Canterbury places it at one-tentli of the crops ; and another, 
giving the average of money loss on 350 acres of a 1000-acre farm in 
Hampshire, places it at £2 per acre, this last not including loss on 
roots or further loss consequent thereon. 
This gives some slight idea of what the Wireworm can do in the 
way of injury per acre ; and it should be remembered that when it 
has injured one crop its work is by no means done.f It lives on for 
* A boll of Wheat in the Isle of Man is 4 bushels, at 64 lbs. to the bushel. 
f Wireworms are the grubs or larvas of the small beetles commonly known as 
“ Skip Jacks,” “ Snap” or “ Click Beetles,” from their habit of flying up in the air 
with a kind of snap or click, when laid on their backs, and thus regaining their 
natural position. Like other beetles, they pass through three stages (larva, pupa, 
and complete insect), but they differ from many kinds in the fact of continuing in 
the grub or larval state (that is as Wireworms) for many years; the pupal or 
chrysalis stage appears only to last in summer for a very short time, a fortnight or 
so. The change to : this state takes place at a considerable depth in the earth, and 
many of the beetles come up from the pupae or chrysalids in July and August; but 
it is considered that some probably pass the winter in this condition and come up 
with the return of warm weather in the next season. 
The Click Beetles are of many kinds, and are commonly from about a quarter to 
half an inch in length, and of a breadth of about a third of their length, and 
brownish in colour, with a pair of long horns and six legs—the Wireworms are 
commonly of a straw colour, and of the shape figured at page 22 ; when examined 
very carefully they will be seen to have six little legs like claws, one pair on each of 
the three rings nearest the head, and by having six and no more than six legs they 
may be easily distinguished from Daddy Longlegs grubs, which have none, and from 
Julus worms, millipedes, centipedes, Ac. which have many, and which are often 
confused with the true Wireworm or grub of the Click Beetle. From the habits of 
the beetle and the locality where the young Wireworms are found, there appears to 
be little doubt that the eggs are laid either a little below the surface of the ground, 
near the food plants, or amongst the leafage just about the ground level. 
