INSECTS AFFECTING THE ONION. 



INJURING THE BULBS. 



The Onion Maggot. 



Anthomyia ceparum. 



The Onion Maggot is closely related to the Cabl >age 

 Maggot, to which it is similar in life-history and 

 habits. The adult is a two-winged fly, which deposits 

 its small, white eggs on the bulbs or lower leaves of 

 the young plants. About a week later the eggs 

 hatch into young larvae that bore into the bulbs, ab- 

 sorbing the succulent substance. When one bulb is 

 consumed they pass on to another. The full-grown 

 larvae are nearly half an inch long, of a dull white 

 color, and pointed at the mouth or front end. They 

 complete their larval growth in about 'two weeks, and 

 then leave the onions and enter the surrounding 

 earth, where they change to the pupa state within 

 brown puparia. A fortnight later the flies emerge to 

 lay eggs for another brood. 



Remedies. — Professor Cook states that the most 

 practical method of preventing the injuries of this 

 insect is to change the position of the onion bed 

 every year, putting it each time some distance from 

 where it was the preceding season. Wherever the 

 conditions are such that this can be done, this is 

 probably the best preventive measure. Miss Orme- 

 rod reports that if the bulbs are kept covered with 

 earth they are not attacked by the maggots. 



