Notes of Observations of Injurious Insects: Report, 1879 (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Author, Unknown

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1331939909 ISBN 13: 9781331939900

Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2020

Synopsis

Excerpt from Notes of Observations of Injurious Insects: Report, 1879 At Sparham, near Norwich, the lowest temperature of the winter was 3 in the low-lying part of the parish, and 10 on the high ground, on December 25th. At my own stationat Isleworth the lowesttemperature was 10 .5; the lowest observed on grass was 9 .8 on January 12th. The earth temperatures at one foot deep sank to between 32 and 33 from December 24th to the 29th, and also from January 12th to February 6th. An idea being prevalent that "cold kills the grubs," I took the opportunity whilst the great cold tasted of examining the state of all larvae and pupae I could find fully exposed to its influence, whether unsheltered, under bark, or in frozen ground, and found that in all eases, even where the earth was frozen so hard that the mass had to he broken up with a hammer, and the larvae or pupae were perfectly rigid, that on thawing they did not appear to be in any way injured; and in the case of the larvae of the Cabbago Weevil (which was the only instance in which any immediate action was to be expected) they continued the operation of making their earth-cases for pupation (as is usual with this grub on disturbance from the gall) as if nothing had happened. Of these observations I give the details under the headings of the respective insects. In other respects the extreme severity of the winter was favourable to insect preservation, as large numbers were secured from bird attack under the snow or in the frost-bound ground; and also the excessive cold (as shown by the Phonological Report of the Meteorological Society) caused an almost unprecedented mortality amongst the birds; this especially noted amongst tho Turdidae and Starlings. The cold and wet spring subsequently retarded the nesting season, and further diminished the ordinary amount by the great numbers of eggs that were addled. The general returns do not show that any kind of injurious insect has been lessened in amount of appearance by the

Edition details

• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Publication date: 2020
• ISBN 10: 1331939909
• ISBN 13: 9781331939900
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 59