32 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
The character of the soil, drainage, fertility and tilth, the variety 
of wheat and the time of sowing all modify injury by this tiny 
midge with its remarkable adaptability. 
The truth of the above was abundantly evident during the ex- 
tremely severe outbreak of 1901 and the less extended damage of the 
past season. The wet spring of 1912 resulted in succulent growth 
most favorable for the development of maggots. To make matters 
worse, dry weather at the time the preceding crop was harvested, 
promoted shelling and subsequent moisture resulted in abundant 
volunteer wheat and a resultant large fall brood of flies, the descend- 
ants of these causing most of the injury in 1912. 
Signs of infestation. The first indication of attack is found in 
the darker color of the leaves and a tendency among the young 
plants to stool freely. The broader lower leaves and the absence 
of a central shoot, it having been killed, are also characteristic of 
infested fields. As the attack advances the affected plants turn 
yellow or brown and die, and the 
maggots may be found at the 
base of the leaves near the 
ground. The spring brood at- 
tacks tillers or laterals which 
were unharmed in the autumn, 
dwarfing and weakening the stem 
so that the grain usually lodges 
before ripening or else fails to 
develop fully. 
Causes of the outbreak. Ex- 
treme dryness at the time of the 
wheat harvest in 1911 promoted 
shelling and resulted in an un- 
usually large crop of volunteer 
wheat, which latter was greatly 
favored by late summer rains. 
Reference to the weather reports 
Fig. 1 ESE of infested wheat stem of this locality shows that in July 
showing ‘ flax-seeds ui or puparia un- IQII Le Roy was favored with 
der the leaf sheaths (original) Be nee co ; 
a precipitation amounting to 
2.86 inches, most of this occurring between the 15th and the 
25th. There was an additional precipitation of nearly an inch 
in early August, followed by almost three-fourths of an inch 
in mid-August and nearly two inches the latter part of that 
month, while in September there were nearly three inches in 
the early part of the month and at least fair rains near the 

