~ 
154 The Hessian Fly, and its Parasites. 
vieux, of which the following is a translation :—“ Our wheat [in 
the neighborhood of Geneva] has sustained the present month 
of May, 1755, an injury, from which the grain cultivated by the 
new husbandry has not been exempt. We found upon it a num- 
~ ber of small white worms, which eventually turned to a chestnut 
color: they fix themselves within the leaves, and gnaw the 
stalks. They are commonly found between the first joint and 
the root: the stalks on which they fasten, grow no more; they 
become yellow and dry up. We suffered the same injury in 
1732, when tebe insects appeared in the middle of May, and did 
ge that the crops were almost annihilated.” i, 299. 
This passage ‘ ha ‘as quoted by Col. Morgan, (Carey’s Amer. Mus. 
1787, i, 530,) in the belief that the insect described in it was the 
Hasiahedly. The description is too imperfect to authorize a 
positive a but there seems to be little doubt that his opin- 
ion is co 
In 1833, Mr. ] Dana sailed for the Mediterranean in the U. 8. 
ship Delaware. oe “An opportunity was thus afforded him to make 
personal exploration for the Hessian fly among the wheat fields 
of the old world; a work for which he was well prepared by his 
thorough acquaintance with this insect in its various stages. His 
examinations were rewarded with the most gratifying success, for 
they proved that the Hessian fly is an inhabitant of Europe. 
On the 13th of March, 1834, and subsequently, he collected sev- 
eral larvee and pupee, from wheat plants growing in a field on the 
island of Minorca. From these pupa, were evolved on the 16th 
of March, 1834, two individuals of an insect which his recollec- 
tions, (aided by a drawing of the Hessian fly with which he was 
provided,) enabled him to pronounce to be the Cecidomyia De 
structor. . More of the perfect insects were evolved in the course 
of the month, one of which deposited eggs like those of the Hes 
sian fly. In letters dated Mahon, April 8 and 21, 1834, Mr. D. 
sent me five of the insects, and several of the pupe. They 
arrived in safety, and after a careful examination, I saw no good 
reason to doubt the identity of this insect with the Hessian fly. 
The Mahonese asserted that the insect had been there from time 
immemorial, and often did great damage both there and in Spain. 
On the 28th of April, 1834, Mr. D. collected from a wheat 
field just without the walls of the city of Toulon in France, 
several pupe and one larva like those before obtained. 02 
