292 Queries and A/iswers, 



which it was feeding being so nearly divided, that the upper part had fallen 

 and crushed the caterpillar, a, the respiratory organs. 



I shall be happy to furnish you with a drawing of the chrysalis, when it 

 enters that form, should this be sufficiently interesting. I am. Sir, &c. — 

 D. G. Kerridge. Ipswich^ March 3. 1829. 



7%e Hessian Fly. — Sir, At Vol. I. p. 227., I observe some notice taken 

 of the Hessian fly, and I send this in hopes that you will insert it in an early 

 Number, where it may meet the eye of the reverend author, who will, 

 I trust, favour us with his remarks on the nature and mode of propagation 

 of a fly which has this year destroyed about one third of late sown wheat 

 all over this country. 



As soon as the ear of wheat was fully developed, and before the flower 

 was expanded, a small yellow or sulphur-coloured caterpillar, about one 

 eighth of an inch in length, and thick in proportion, had taken its abode in 

 numbers where the young milky grain was forming, which they completely 

 devoured ; and the infested grains never showed the stamina, nor did the 

 anthers expand. In about twelve days they became torpid, and in six days 

 more they were transformed into small black flies, not half the size of those 

 figured by Mr. Kirby. On calm evenings these flies appeared in myriads on 

 the outside of the ear, but always sheltered themselves from the sun*s rays 

 amongst the husks ; they existed about two weeks in the fly state and then 

 disappeared, but have, in all likelihood, left the rudiments of a future gene- 

 ration. This is the second year that the same destructive insect has proved 

 hurtful to the wheat crops in this country. It will be obliging if Mr. Kirby, 

 or any of your scientific correspondents, will, through the medium of your 

 Magazine, inform us where they think the eggs are likely to be deposited. 

 Can it be in the downy end of the grain of wheat ? Is it likely that these 

 eggs will continue in the future plant, till the ear is again protruded, and 

 then come into life, or how are we to account for their existence at that 

 late period of the season, without appearing earlier ? When once its his-, 

 tory is properly known (which in the present instance can only be disco- 

 vered by analogy), means may be judiciously employed for its extermination. 

 I am. Sir, yours, &c. — A. G. Perthshire^ Sept A 828. 



The Turnip Fly. — In Cunningham's work on New South Wales, it is 

 stated that the turnip fly has been introduced into that country by means 

 of turnip seed. Was it introduced in the e^g or larva state ? If either egg 

 or larva be found among the seed, can they be destroyed by immersion in 

 prepared fluid ? As this is a question of the greatest importance to the 

 agriculturist, it is to be hoped that some of your correspondents will give it 

 a careful consideration. — J. S. Thurgarton, Norfolk^ April 17. 1829. 



LymncB'a ovata. {fig. 80. a.) — From the specimen in my collection, I 

 should consider this shell distinct from the H. piitris, or pere- 

 gra of authors, and certainly not the Helix piitris of Dr. Tur- 

 ton. This variety (of H. piitris) may be that which I have 

 found in tolerable abundance in the neighbourhood of Don- 

 caster, and which very much resembles the Lymnae'a ovata of 

 some authors ; but this last (L. ovata) is not described in his 

 Conchological Dictionary. The) terminal volutions are much 

 more covered by the body than those in the shell figured in the 

 Magazine of Natural History (Vol. I. p. 425. g). The line of 

 separation is not quite so oblique ; the outer lip is somewhat 

 compressed at the margin, and it is attached nearer to the upper 

 part of the body, where it is rather flattened; it is more tumid 

 than the peregra, and slightly striate longitudinally; and, 

 like the H. stagnalis, has a few flattened spaces, as if pieces had 

 been chipped off*. My largest specimen is somewhat more that six tenths 

 of an inch in length, and about four tenths in breadth. Having met only 

 with two specimens in this spot, I consider it more rare than L. piitris, 



