Report of the State L\yto.uolooist. 29 



attack resembles that of the Hessian fly, Gecidomyia dedructor — a 

 more common and better known insect. The two, however, need not 

 be C(mfounded. 



While the joint-worm is imbedded wilhin the straw, the larva of the 

 Hessian fly invariably lives outside of it, between the straw and the 

 sheath, at the joint. The "flaxseeds " which are found in this position 

 are the larvie of the Hessian fl}' transformed into pupix;, and are iinfoi*- 

 tunatel}^ too familiar to many of our farmers. 



Joint- worm Injuries. 

 It is a destructive insect, not only to wheat but also to rj'e and 

 barley. A few years prior to 1829 and 1880, when the first notices 

 Avere published of it, it had pi'oved so injurious to barley in some 

 portions of Massachusetts as to compel the abandonment of the culti- 

 vation of that crop. Many fields failed to yield the amount of seed 

 sown. Dr. Harris describetl the new insect, in 1830, and named it 

 from the plant on which it occurred, hordeum being the Latin name 



for barley. 



Its Further History. 



Its early history is detailed in Harris' " Treatise on Insects Injurious 

 to Vegetation," pp. 551-5()1. Its ravages did not long continue in 

 Massachusetts, for after the year 1831 it ceased to attract particular 

 attention. Later, it became destructive in Virginia, where it occa- 

 sioned such serious losses that, in 1851:, a " joint-worm convention " 

 was held at Warrenton, to discuss the insect and learn the best 

 remedies that covild be employed against it. 



In 1852, it was observed in some of the central counties of the State 

 of New York, when it was brought to the notice of Dr. Fitch, Ento- 

 mologist of the N. Y. State Agricultural Society, who gave it careful 

 study, and in 1859, from variations in colors of specimens examined, 

 named and described as new sj)ecies, Eurytoma tritici and Eurytoma 

 fulvipes — the first from wheat, the other from barley. Later, from 

 specimens infesting rye in Eastern Pennsylvania, he described Eury- 

 toma secalis. But each of the above three (for an account of which see 

 his Seventh Report on the Insects of Neiv York-, published in the Trans- 

 actions of (he K Y. State Agricidtuy^al Society, vol. xxi., 1862, pp. 830-851) 

 have been pronounced only colorational varieties of Isosoma hordei 

 CHarris).* See Walsh-Riley in American Entomologist, i, pp. 152-153. 



* If the antennal features of the "yellow-legged barley-fly," -Ewryto/na /mZh /pes, have 

 been correctly given by Dr. Fitch, namely: In the male "the antenna} are thread-like 

 or of equal thickness through their whole length, and thinly bearded with short robust 

 bristles," whereas, in Isosoma hordei, " the joints are surrounded by whoi-ls of hairs" — 

 then Isosoma fulvipes will be entitled to retain its designation as a valid species. It 

 does not appear that it has been observed since its description," 



