134 INSECT PEST8_OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



in some measure like a sort of locust, till rain fell and washed them 

 off; and though this evil has happened in other summers to the 

 wheat in some degree, yet if the good providence of God had not 

 hindered it they might have ruined all the crops of wheat in the 

 nation.' (Hind's ' Essay on Insects and Diseases Injurious to 

 Wheat Crops,' page 76)". It seems probable that it was first 

 introduced into America near Quebec, where it " appears to have 

 occurred" in 1819, and was first observed in the United States 

 in northwestern Vermont in 1820. It did not become very 

 destructive, however, until 1828, from which time until 1835 

 it kept increasing in such numbers as to cause the abandonment 

 of the wheat crops in some localities throughout northern New 

 England. Serious damage was reported as due to this pest 

 every few years until about 1860, being most severe in 1854, in 

 which year Dr. Fitch estimated the loss in New York alone at 

 $15,000,000, and in 1857, and 1858. Since then no widespread 

 injury has occurred, though local outbreaks are frequent, and 

 it has spread south to the Gulf States and westward to Iowa, 

 Minnesota, and Arkansas. 



Life History. The adult flies are small, two-winged insects, 

 about an eighth of an inch long, of a yellow or orange color. 

 They appear about the middle of June and lay the eggs "in a 

 small cavity at the summit of, and formed by a groove in, the 

 outmost chaff covering the incipient kernel." They hatch in 

 about a week, according to Dr. Fitch, and the maggots burrow 

 into the forming kernels. The maggots are of a reddish color, 

 and when an ear is badly infested give it a reddish tinge, on 

 account of which the insect is often called the "red weevil." 



When full grown the larvae enter the ground and usually 

 form cocoons, in which they pass the winter in the pupal stage, 

 though they often hibernate without such protection. Though 

 doubtless there is usually but one brood in a season, observations 

 by Professor F. M. Webster and others seem to point to the fact 

 that there sometimes are two broods, as adults have been observed 

 from August into November. 



Besides wheat, the wheat-midge also sometimes injures 

 rye, barley, and oats. 



Remedies. Plowing infested fields in the fall so deeply that 

 the midges will be unable to reach the surface upon developing 



