14 
wheat in Central Illinois having been completely destroyed by it, 
and others very seriously damaged, within the last two years. 
Besides its mischief in the wheat field, and also in rye, there is 
some reason to hold it responsible for a similar injury to timothy 
meadows very prevalent in northern Illinois, and general throughout 
the State,—an injury long known, but never yet: explained. These 
facts make it decidedly important that this insect should be gener- 
ally recognized and thoroughly understood, and will doubtless justify 
as full an account of it as our observations and experiments will 
enable me to draw up. 
LITERATURE. 
The earliest published mention of this insect which I have been able 
to find, is in the ‘‘Prairie Farmer,” the early volumes of which are 
a treasure-house of information respecting the first appearance and 
early habits of injurious insects in the West. The items respecting 
them are usually written by farmers, and are often couched in 
terms so vague as to leave one in doubt as to the insect intended; 
but in this case there can be no uneertainty. In the September 
number of the above journal for 1845 (p. 216) occurs the following 
item : 
“A NEW wHEaT INsEcT.—The Michigan Farmer notices a new wheat 
insect found preying upon the wheat in that State, and which is 
described as follows: It is the product of a small greenish fly, 
about three-sixteenths of an inch in length. The larva is a white 
worm, one-fourth of an inch long, ribbed, [segmented ?: without feet, 
with two forked black lnes on its forehead, and in some cases a 
streak of light green extending lengthwise. The worm is found in 
the straw just above the upper joint, where it devours the juices 
which would otherwise ascend to the head. The heads of wheat 
denote its presence by turning white prematurely, when the grain is 
in the milk. In one instance, nine eggs were found in a single 
straw, one of which had just hatched. Have any of our readers 
seen any such insect?” 
I have tried in vain to secure a copy of the Michigan Farmer 
referred to, but_as no subsequent mention of this insect was made 
in the Prairie Farmer, it is likely that the inquiry just quoted was 
not answered. 
It was not until ten years after this notice that Dr. Fitch, then 
State Entomologist of New York, detected the fly in that State, 
where he obtained it by sweeping the heads of wheat in the field 
with an insect net. He did not determine the early stages, but from 
his knowledge of the habits of the family (Oscinide) to which the 
fly belonged, he believed the larva to be injurious to wheat. 
In his second report as State Entomologist, published in 1855, 
Dr. Fitch describes the species, and mentions the occurrence in the 
wheat of “smooth, shining, footless little maggots, of pale-creen and 
watery-white colors, commonly imbedded in the straw in small bur- 
rows or cylindrical channels which they have excavated.” Dr. Fitch’s 
specific description is as follows: “It is 0.17 [of an inch! in length 
to the tip of its abdomen, and 0.20 to the end of its wings. It is 
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