The Cabbage Root Maggot. 493 



the male. Her eyes are also quite widely separated above. The abdomen 

 is of a more elongate ovate shape with a pointed apex. There seems to be 

 no special characteristic by which the female fly can be recognized and 

 separated from some of the other common Anthomyiians ; it is necessary 

 that it be found associated with its male to determine it with certainty. 



Gardeners who are not now familiar with these flies can soon 



become so with the aid of the above descriptions and illustrations, 



supplemented with a knowledge of their habits and times of 



appearance which are discussed farther on tmder the life history 



of the pest. 



ITS CLASSIFICATION. 



This cabbage pest is a member of that peculiar order of insects 

 — the true flies — known as the Diptera, none of whose members 

 have more than two wings. The well-known House Fly, 

 the Mosquitoes, the Hessian Fly, the Crane-flies, the Bot Flies, 

 and many other familiar insects are typical members of this 

 order. The pest under discussion belongs to the family An- 

 thomyiidae whose members are commonly known as the An- 

 thomyiians, which in the original Greek means " flower flies," 

 from their habit of frequenting various flowers. There are more 

 than a hundred other members of this family in this country, and 

 among them some well known pests like the Onion Maggot, and 

 others. The Cabbage Root Maggot is probably the most common 

 and best known member of the family. 



Its scientific yiame. — Naturalists are not agreed as to the name 



by which this insect should be known. After a critical survey of 



all the evidence known to us, we are convinced that the pest 



should be called Phorbia brassicae.^ 



Other names have been applied to the insect as is shown in the synonomy 

 of the pest on another page, but we believe the weight of evidence at present 

 is decidedly in favor of brassicae, the name given by Bouche in 1833. This 

 specific name of the pest comes from the generic name Brassica, of the plants 

 on which the insect usually feeds. Until within a few years, the insect has 

 usually been referred to the genus Anthomyia, sometimes to Chortophila ; 

 but the latest authority places it in the genus Phorbia, hence its complete 

 name is Phorbia brassicae. 



*For a detailed account of our reasons for adopting this name, see the dis- 

 cussion which follows the bibliography of this insect on the last pages of this 

 bulletin. 



