42 



FLIES. 



ground, to lay slates, turfs, or tiles, and send a boy 

 round every morning to clear what lay below. I have 

 only worked this plan out myself on a small scale, but 

 it is worth considering. 



The above is one of our regular yearly attacks, 

 especially to be looked for after a damp autumn and 

 ■winter, because, as we have seen, dampness and 

 moisture suit the Daddy Longlegs in all their stages. 



Tlie next of tltis gnat-like division of flies that may 

 be considered is the Wheat Midge [Cecidomyia tritici)^ 



Fig. 39.-9 and 10, Wheat Midge ; 1-6, larvfp, nat. size and mag- 

 nified ; 7 and 8, part of horns, magnified ; infested floret. 



the eggs of which produce the little orange or red foot- 

 less grub known as the " Eed Maggot," often found in 

 •wheat-ears. 



These little gnats are hardly more than an eighth 

 of an inch long in the body, but have long legs and 

 horns, and the female has a long ovipositor, as thin 

 as a hair, with which she inserts her eggs in the 

 •wheat-florets, or those of such other kinds of corn or 

 grass as she may infest. 



This operation is mostly performed in the evening, 

 and we are indebted to the observations of Mr. Swan- 

 •wick, of the Eoyal Agricultural College Farm, Ciren- 

 cester, for the information that, just at the time of 



