I06 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 



Mr. W. Cole {^Hon. Secretary) exhibited a series of specimens illustrating the 

 attacks of a farmer's pest, which had not appeared in Essex for many years, viz., 

 Chlorops tceniopus oi Curtis, an insect extremely injurious to barley. Mr. Cole's 

 attention was first called to the subject by the following paragraph which appeared 

 in the " Essex County Chronicle" for June 23rd, under the heading of " Another 

 Pest for Farmers " : 



" On Friday Mr. Herbert Dowsett, of Park Farm, Pleshey, brought for our 

 inspection three ears of barley which had small maggots eating into them. He 

 says that he has on his farm about fifty acres of barley, and about one-fourth of 

 the crop is infested with these maggots, which will, of course, destroy all the ears 

 in which they get a lodgment. Neighbouring farmers have found their crops 

 attacked in the same way. We have submitted the samples Mr. Dowsett brought 

 us to the Essex Field Club and the County Technical Instruction Committee." 



Subsequently Mr. Cole received a good supply of infected barley plants from 

 Mr. Dowsett, and reported as follows in the next issue of the same newspaper : 



" The attacking insect is clearly Chlorops tceniopus, of Curtis, a small two- 

 winged fly, black striped with yellow, which may often be found in numbers in 

 and around barley stacks. The insect has been known for fifty years, but the 

 injury is often overlooked, as it bears a close resemblance to distortions caused by 

 fungi or abnormal growth. The plants sent me by Mr. Dowsett are stunted in 

 growth, the ears still in sheath, and the leaves often twisted and distorted in a 

 grievous fashion. On cutting open the sheaths, the cause of the injury is easily 

 seen in the shape of a small white, legless, sluggish maggot, snugly ensconced 

 between the sheath and the ear, which latter is in most cases partly destroyed, 

 distorted, and aborted. In many cases the maggot is already laid up in its last 

 skin for the purpose of turning into the chrysalis or pupa stage, the skin 

 forming an elongated brown case, called by entomologists a pupariutn. In Mr. 

 Dowsett's case, the injuries are certainly most serious. He tells me that he used 

 his own seed-corn (which came to over nine quarters per acre) with the exception 

 of two acres, which were sown with barley bought at los. per bushel from a 

 well-known firm. During forty years' experience, Mr. Dowsett has never seen a 

 like destruction ; he estimates that one-fourth of his entire crop will never 

 ear out. 



" Mr. R. W. Christy sends me this morning a bundle of plants similarly 

 affected from Little Boyton Hall Farm, Chelmsford, and other reports have 

 reached me. 



" The fly lays her eggs in the autumn corn plants, and from these maggots the 

 flies come out at the right season in early summer to deposit eggs in the young 

 barley. But little is known of its habits in England during the winter, and 

 further observation is much needed. The only practical remedy proposed is the 

 pulling up of the injured plants by hand — they are easily recognised from their 

 swollen, stunted appearance, hence the word ' gout ' significantly applied to the 

 injury. Further knowledge of the habits of the fly will doubtless furnish 

 remedies. It is quite clear that some means should be found to destroy the 

 fly or the pupoe or maggots in the autumn or winter, and so prevent the egg- 

 laying in the early barley in the spring. 



" Mr. Christy speaks of the Hessian Fly attacking his barley, but I could find 

 none in the specimens he sent — only Chlorops. I shall be glad to receive 

 specimens of infested crops from other parts of the county — I fear that the pest 

 is wide-spread." 



Infected plants have since been noticed at Stonage Farm, Little Waltham, 

 and at Black Hall, Great Canfield. 



Mr. Cole exhibited the larva, pupa, and dissections of the barley plants, 

 showing the mode of life of the maggot, and the injury it does to the young ears. 



Mr. Cole also exhibited some uncommon moths from various parts of Essex, 



I 



