and do not ordinarily fly vei-v far in any one direction; nor do 

 they care to fly in windy weather or on wind-swept areas. 



The individual egg is about one twenty-fifth of an inch in length, 

 somewhat elli]>tieal or curved in outline, with more or less pointed 

 ends, and. as it is white in col(jr, can be readily seen l)y the naked 

 ■eye upon close examination. A female is said to be capable of 

 laying about fifty eggs, and these are deposited either on the sur- 

 face of the ground near the plant or on tlie stem of the plant itself, 

 and if any crevices exist either in the plant or in the soil close to 

 it, the eggs will be placed there. They cannot, however, be forced 

 into the plant tissue of the stem, for the ovipositor of the insect, 

 while extensile, is soft and not capable of puncturing. The point 

 at which the e^g is deposited is of considerable importance, for if 

 too far from the plant it is doubtful whether the young maggot 

 which hatches from it, and is a rather helpless creature, wdll be 

 able to reach its food; or if laid around the plant on so hard a 

 surface that the young maggot cannot penetrate it and get to the 

 softer plant tissue under ground, it will in all jn-obability perish, 

 as it will l^e unable to feed on the hardened tissue of the stem 

 which is above ground. The importance of this point will be seen 

 when we come to consider remedial measures. 



Figure 3. 



End segment of the onion maggot (1) and of the cabbage maggot (2) : much enlarged. 



Original. 



The length of the egg stage varies from four to ten days, and 

 probably averages about a week. The minute maggot which 

 hatches from the egg gTows rapidly if it succeeds in reaching its 

 food, and in three or four weeks becomes one-quarter of an inch or 



