GOUT FLY. 



59^ 



little Flies sometimes are to be found by handfuls in 

 the stacks. Now comes the winter history, which is 

 very different. These autumn Flies have been found 

 and recorded, in continental observations, to lay their 



<rrmTD> (ixuc^ 



Fig. 48. — Gout Fly, grub ami pupa; nat. size and magnified; 

 with infested stem, 7, 8, 9 and 10, Parasite Flies ; nat. size and 

 magnified. 



eggs on autumn-sown corn, or on wild grass; the 

 maggot, when hatched, pierces into the heart of the 

 young plant, and there it passes the winter. It is 

 stated that when spring comes the unattacked parts 

 grow as usual, but the attacked portion only produces 

 a diseased growth of broad leaves and thickened shoot, 

 which commonly perishes. The maggot turns to the 

 pupa within, and from this there comes out the Gout 

 Fly, somewhere in March or April, in due season to 

 lay its eggs and begin the summer attack. 



This fact has long been known, but as far as I am 

 aware has never as yet been recorded in England 

 save once, and only on the small scale of development 



