. RAVAGES OF MAGGOTS. 257 



jured. The fly deserted the fields as the crop ad- 

 vanced towards maturity, and were found longest on 

 the spring sown portion of the crop. It seemed to 

 feed on the gum adhering to the newly emerged ears ; 

 and as there is a great diversity in the time of 

 sowing wheat in this neighbourhood, and conse- 

 quently of the ears escaping from the vagina, I 

 attribute the unusual length of time it has existed 

 this season to the supply of food thus gradually 

 furnished. 



"The fly deposits its eggs with much intensity, 

 and may easily be taken when so employed. Upon 

 one occasion, I numbered thirty- five flies on a single 

 ear ; and after carrying it a distance of a quarter of 

 a mile, six of them still continued to deposit eggs. 

 At another time, I placed a fly, then laying, between 

 the face and glass of my watch, where it deposited 

 several eggs, although invariably interrupted by the 

 revolution of the moment-hand. 



" The eggs of the fly are generally found in clus- 

 ters, varying in number from two to ten, upon the 

 inner chaff, in which the furrowed side of the grain is 

 embedded, and are also occasionally to be seen in 

 the interior parts of the flower and chafi'. The eggs 

 are deposited by means of a long slender tube, and 

 fixed with a glutinous substance possessed by the fly. 

 A thread of glutinous matter frequently connects a 

 cluster of eggs with the style, where the larvas seem 

 to subsist on the pollen ; in one instance, fifteen eggs 

 were numbered on such a thread, several of which 

 were suspended on the portion extending between 

 the chaff and the style. The fly not only seems thus 

 to provide a conveyance from the larvae to the style, 

 but also food for their support. The anthers are 

 prevented from leaving the style in consequence of 

 being gummed down by the glutinous matter of the 

 fly, and the pollen thereby detained for the use of the 



