September  18,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
2G7 
Bulbs  and  Their  Insect  Enemies. 
One  of  our  great  naturalists  remarks  that  the  chief  objects  in 
life  amongst  the  insects  are  to  eat  as  much  as  they  can,  and  to 
avoid  being  eaten.  Really,  though,  this  fact  is  quite  observable 
by  any  gardener  who  notices  what  is  going  on  around  him.  The 
perils  of  insect  life  are  enormous,  only  their  prolific  propagation 
saves  many  species  from  extinction.  Insects  furnish  the  chief 
food  to  many  creatures;  they  are  in  danger  from  each  other,  and 
from  men.  About  some  insects  it  might  be  said,  indeed,  that  if 
they  eat  a  good  deal,  they  are  a  long  while  over  it,  the>  larval  life 
sometimes  lasting  many  months  or  even  years.  Amongst  the 
objects  that  are  specially  attractive  to>  insects,  from  their  being 
often  soft  and  succulent,  are  bulbs,  corms,  and  tubers.  They  are 
specially  attacked  by  some  species,  but  various  root -feeders  work 
upwards  towards  the  crowns  of  plants.  Within  a  bulb,  insects 
find  safe  lodgment  and  plenty  cf  food  ;  the  smaller  foes  may  prove 
to  be  the  worse,  since  their  presence  is  often  unobserved  till  too 
late. 
We  naturally,  therefore,  refer  first  totho  e  tiny  enemies  of  bulbs 
belonging  to  the  mite  tribe.  ’Tis  an  old  joke  to  say 
that  they  are  mighty  in  doing  damage  to  bulbs  and 
other  cultivated  plants,  though  so  diminutive.  Their 
strength  arises  from  their  numbers,  and  their  insi¬ 
dious  habits  ;  indeed,  the  gardeners  of  the  old  school 
seem  to  have  had  no  idea  of  the  mischief  that  was 
chargeable  to  them.  More  than  one  species  may 
resort  to  bulbs,  but  Rhizoglyphus  echinopus  is  pre¬ 
eminently  the  bulb  mite,  and  a  good  deal  about  it 
was  published  in  this  Journal  of  1887  and  1888. 
[For  particulars  regarding  this  pest,  we  refer  the 
reader  to  Mr.  Abbey’s  article  on  another  page  of  this 
issue. — Ed.] 
Of  larger  size,  though  apt  to  be  overlooked  from 
their  artfulness,  are  those  relatives  of  spiders  and 
mites  called  the  snake  millipedes  or  Juli.  One  of  the 
largest  has  the  popular  name  of  “  Maggie  Manyfeet 
but  they  cannot  show  a  thousand,  scarcely  above 
sixty  or  seventy.  These  insects  are  general  feeders 
upon  decaying  or  living  animal  or  vegetable  sub¬ 
stances,  having  an  evil  repute  amongst  horti¬ 
culturists;  still,  the  Juli  have  had  their  advocates, 
who  assert  thev  do  more  good  than  harm,  but  the 
case  is  strong  against  them.  One  of  the  commonest 
is  J.  pulehellus ;  though  bearing  this  complimentary 
name,  a  gardener  cannot  like  it,  since  it  is  very- 
persistent  in  attacking  plants,  especially  young  ones. 
Its  beauty,  however,  consists  in  a  double  row  of 
crimson  spots,  best  seen  by  magnifier.  This  insect 
has  been  taken  seriously  damaging  specimens  of 
Eucharis,  and  it  is  often  found  infesting  both  roots 
and  bulbs  of  various  species  of  the  Lily  tribe. 
Occasionally  it  damages  young  Pansies  and  Violas, 
Some  Juli  feed  upon  our  root  crops  in  fields;  it  is 
difficult  to  extirpate  these  insects,  owing  to  their 
habits. 
To  the  centipedes,  closely  allied  to  the  millipedes, 
and  often  mistaken  for  them,  though  not  so  well 
equipped  with  legs,  we  are  indebted,  since  they  are 
notable  insect -killers,  and  we  may  spare  their  lives 
when  we  can.  Mostly,  they  are  owners  of  mandibles, 
from  which  a  poison  is  emitted  into'  the  bite  they 
inflict,  but  they  are  harmless  to  human  beings  in  our 
country.  At  certain  seasons  the  centipedes  are 
luminous,  and  leave  a  shining  track  upon  the  ground 
when  crawling  after  dusk.  No  doubt  they  destroy 
many  foes  of  bulbs,  or  of  the  crowns  and  roots  of 
plants.  I  am  not  sure  that  they  have  been  reported 
as  damagers  of  bulbs,  but  the  tiny  insects  called  the 
Collembola,  so  common  about  frames  and  hotbeds, 
probably  browse  upon  their  surfaces  at  times.  They 
are  frequently  numerous  on  tubers  and  succulent 
roots.  Possibly  some  gardeners  style  them  lice,  and 
one  group,  the  springtails,  have  a  curious  jumping 
apparatus;  the  crawling  species  are  generally  white 
and  shining  grubs  or  larvrn  of  beetles  that  live  under 
the  earth,  sometimes  come  near  its  surface  and  feast 
upon  a  succulent  bulb.  That  of  the  wingless  black 
weevil  (Otiorhynchus  sulcatus),  an  insect  which  infests 
vineries  and  Peach  houses,  often  troublesome  ;W;  roots 
of  Vines  and  Strawberries ;  it  feeds  from  September 
to  the  spring,  a  plump,  legless,  slightly  hairy  grub. 
Severe  cold  has  little  effect  upon  these  insects.  The 
mature  beetles  hide  during  the  day,  coming  out  at 
eventide  in  May  to  attack  buds  and  young  twigs. 
Two  allied  species  of  this  genus,  O.  picipes  and  tene- 
bricosus,  pursue  a  similar  course  of  life,  and  visit 
bulbs  as  well  as  roots;  while  larvae,  the  first  of  these 
is  a  notable  fee  of  the  Raspberry. 
Another  beetle,  strong  and  wiry,  so  well-nanied  the  wireworm 
in  its  larval  state,  also  called  the  skipjack  when  winged,  will 
wire  into  a  juicy  bulb  if  it  has  the  chance.  When  bulbs  are 
planted  out  upon  lawns,  they  are  occasionally  visited  by  the  cock¬ 
chafer  grub. 
The  irrepressible  earwig,  in  its  nocturnal  wanderings,  may 
arrive  amongst  bulbs  of  autumn  growth,  and  enter  any  opening 
it  may  discover  in  a  bulb,  possibly  make  cue  if  the  bulb  happens 
to  be  soft.  Some  folks  doubt  whether  the  common  and  larger 
earwig  travels  through  the  air:  individuals  apparently  sometimes 
enter  houses  by  the  upper  windows.  Certainly,  the  lessor  ear¬ 
wig,  Lebia  minor,  likes  to  fly,  and  parties  may  be  noticed  on 
summer  evenings  taking  excursions  from  one  hotbed  to  another. 
We  often  see  them  amongst  rows  of  bulbs,  but  they  are  not  of 
great  importance  as  enemies.  To  add  one  more,  the  cockroach, 
or  Blatta  of  kitchens  and  cellars,  makes  occasional  inroads  upon 
plants  in  gardens  and  greenhouses;  bulbs  are  attractive  to  it,  and 
it  frequently  escapes  observation  owing  to  its  habit  of  concealing 
itself  during  the  daylight. — Entomologist. 
[Should  any  reader  have  experienced  loss  from  the  attacks  of 
other  insects,  and  know  of  good  preventive  measures  practised 
against  them  or  any  of  the  foregoing,  they  might  be  referred  to.] 
mms&msBza^ 
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Grandeur  a  Merveille.  (Referred  to  on  page  27?.) 
