540 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



frequently Lad Lotli of tlic others in addition to Isosma tritici and 

 I. hordei. Of all theyo tlie Wlieat Midge undoubtedly did the great- 

 est and most direct damage, and many ears were found white and 

 blasted from its work. In the most flourishing parts of the field, 

 where the stalks were green and 4 feet high, the Joint Worm was 

 also found, although not in such numbers as before. 



The larvae of Isosonia tritici were often found in the same stalk 

 with I. hordei, often boring just alongside of the galls of the latter. 

 I. hordei, however, were quite uniformly found just above the first 

 or second joint, and in such position that the cutting of the grain 

 would not disturb them, while I. tritici was found in all ijarts of the 

 stalls! from near the ground to above the upper joint. 



In spite of the great abundance of the Joint Worms at this time 

 they were less numerous than in 1884, and in 188(3 they were still 

 more reduced in numbers, ovv^ing, in great measure, to the prevalence 

 of Chalcid parasites in 1885. The mcst abundant of these was Semi- 

 oiellus chcdcidiphagus Walsh, the larvae of which were found in 

 nearly every swelling examined. The larvse of Eupelmus allynii 

 (French) were also found, but in smaller numbers. 



A study of the comparative injury done by the four principal in- 

 sects found in this field would rank them in the following order: 

 Diplosis tritici, Cecidomyia destr'uctor, Isosoma tritici, Isosoma 

 hordei, yet /. hordei alone had been complained of. 



In parts of Ohio, too, the Joint Worm has been abundant. Mr. 

 Elliot Luse, of Barry, Cuyahoga County, writing under date of May 

 4, 1885, complained that the previous Fall, while threshing, bits of 

 hard straw from half an inch to three inches in length would come 

 through with the wheat. When cleaned with a hand-mill he would 

 get a bushel of these bits to 20 bushels of grain. The real nature of 

 the small pieces was not discovered by Mr. Luse until spring, when, 

 after feeding stock with chopped straw and ground feed and making 

 them sick, the straw was examined and the insects found and sent to 

 us for determination. 



This case formed the text for an article which we wrote for the 

 Rural Neiv Yorker of June 20, 1885 (vol. 44, p. 418), in which we 

 pointed out the necessity of cleaning with a hand-mill all wheat 

 thrashed with a steam-thrasher from infested straw, and of burning 

 not only the galls thus separated, but also the straw itself, as its loss 

 can be well afforded to lessen the injury the ensuing year. 



Specimens were also received from Chagrin Falls, a few miles south 

 from Barry, in October, 1885, from Miss E. J. Phillips, who stated 

 that the wheat straw had been badly infested in that vicinitj^ for two 

 years past, but that the yield did not seem to have been affected, as 

 she knew of sovei-al fields which yielded 30 and 35 bushels per acre, 

 and which wore at the samie time badly infested. The only trouble 

 was that the little j)ieces of straw came through the separator with 

 the wheat. 



In Central New York the Joint Worm has also done some damage, 

 as we learn from correspondence with Dr. Lintner, the State ento- 

 mologist. Here, as in Ohio, the worms were often found higher in 

 the stalk than was customary in Virginia. In Ohio this is shown 

 by the fact that so many galls were found in the harvested straw, 

 while Dr. Lintner writes us that his correspondent informed him that 

 the worms were found "in every joint." From this he argued that 

 it might be Isosoma tritici, instead of I. hordei, but its identity 

 with the latter species was settled by breeding the adults at the De- 



