ONION INSECTS 249 



be used in the small onion patch but its use is too laborious 

 and expensive to be practical in the large commercial onion 

 field. To be effective, a considerable quantity of the liquid 

 must be utilized thoroughly to wet the plants and a strong 

 spray is needed to force the material down into the sheaths of 

 the leaves and between the tender leaves at the center of the 

 plant. Some better method of applying is needed in order to 

 make spraying for the onion thrips a practical success under 

 commercial conditions. 



References 



N. Y. (Geneva) Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 83, pp. 680-683. 1894. 



Fla. Art- Exp. Sta. Bull. 46, pp. 103-114. 1898. 



J. C. Faure, Unpublished thesis, Cornell University Library. 



The Barred-Winged Onion Fly 



Chwtopsis aenea Wiedemann 



Onions are occasionally injured by a yellowish or whitish 

 maggot about J inch in length, that burrows in the bulbs, 

 causing decay to ensue. The maggots of this insect have also 

 been found injuring corn, wheat, oats, sorghum and sugar- 

 cane and have been reared from the common reed. The larvae 

 have also been recorded as parasitic on the common stalk- 

 borer and on a lepidopterous borer in cat-tail. The insect is 

 native to America and ranges throughout the eastern United 

 States from Canada to the West Indies. The fly is about A 

 inch in length with the head grayish and the thorax and abdo- 

 men metallic green. The wings are whitish crossed by three 

 broad brown bands. The life history of this insect has been 

 studied on oats. The female deposits her minute, elongate, 

 pointed white eggs just under the ed^^^c of the leaf-sheath, 

 singly or in groups of two to five. The maggots work down 

 inside the leaf-sheath where, when mature, they transform 

 into polished brown puparia about ^e i^^<^'h in length. In 



