596 DIPTERA. 



It is somewliat remarkable that the true nature of this 

 coverino; of the majicot should not have been ascertained 

 by English naturalists. Mr. Kirby, as before stated, sup- 

 posed it to be a thin membrane, formed by the insect for 

 the protection of its body from the cold of winter. Ac- 

 cording to Professor Henslow's account, the larvae " spin 

 themselves up in a very thin and transparent web, which 

 is often attached to a sound grain, or to the inside of one 

 of the chaif-scales."* Mr. Curtis observed on the backs 

 of some of the shrivelled grains " a long narrow filmy sac, 

 on opening which a bright orange granulated maggot came 

 out alive ; and when shut up in a tin box, many volunta- 

 rily left their cases and wandered about." f Having care- 

 fully watched the insect during the moulting period, I am 

 convinced that what these gentlemen called a " membrane," 

 '' web," or " sac," is really the loosened outer skin of the 

 maggot, which is subsequently thrown off" in the ears of the 

 wheat, or is cast upon the surface of the ground. 



After sliedding its skin, the maggot recovers its activity, 

 and writhes about as at first, but takes no food. It is 

 shorter, somewhat flattened, and more obtuse than before, 

 and is of a deeper yellow color, with an oblong greenish 

 spot in the middle of the body. Within two or three days 

 after moulting, the magijots either descend of their own 

 accord, or are shaken out of the ears by the wind, and 

 fall to the ground. They do not let themselves down by 

 threads, for they are not able to spin. Nearly all of them 

 disappear before the middle of August ; and they are very 

 rarely found in the grain at the time of harvest. Mrs. 

 Gage stated, in one of her letters, that she had not ob- 

 served " how and when the insects issue from the grain," 

 but that it was " apparent they go in company," and " per- 

 haps they crawl out upon the heads during a rain, and 

 are washed down to the ground, where they remain through 



* Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Vol. II. p. 22. 

 t Ibid., Vol. VI. p. 145. 



