THE HESSIAN FLY IN BRITAIN: LIFE-HISTORY. 



By Eleanor A. Ormekod, 

 F.E.S., Consulting Entomologist R. Ag. Soc. Eng. 



On the 28th of July T received specimens from Revell's Hall, 

 Hertford, of injured barley, which on examination precisely 

 corresponded with the con- 

 dition caused by attack of 

 the Cecidomyia destructor, 

 commonly known as the 

 Hessian Fly. On investi- 

 gation on the spot I found 

 the puparia fixed beneath 

 the sheathing - leaf just/ 

 above the second joint, in 

 the manner described as 

 characteristic. They were 

 laid lengthwise along the 

 stem, and frequently firmly 

 attached at one extremity, 

 which is caused by the 

 larva lying so motionless 

 at the spot at which it 

 is feeding that the stem 

 slightly advances round the 

 point of attachment. 



For the various works of authority which I have consulted on 

 the subject I refer to my recently-published pamphlet,* as they 

 are too numerous to be quoted here. 



On the dissection of the puparia I found the larva within still 

 little changed, and was able to identify it as a Cecidomyideous 

 larva, and likewise as corresponding with that of C. destructor in 

 the very peculiar form of its anchor process, which, though 

 roughly, is clearly shown in Dr. Packard's paper on Hessian Fly 

 (formed in connection with Prof. Riley, Dr. Cyrus Thomas, and 

 other personal observers of the attack, published in the ' Third 

 Report of the United States Entomological Commission, 1880'). 



E.0 



Injured barley. 



* 'The Hessian Fly in Great Britain.' Simpkin, Marshall & Co.: 

 Price 6d. 



ENTOM. — JAN., 1887. C 



London. 



