Sec. 12.] ENTOMOLOGICAL. 213 



is shorter, less pointed at the extremity, and is connected -with the thora.K 

 hy a longer stem. He also says, that among fifteen females only one male 

 ■^vas fonnd. This corresponds with what I have observed, as out of sixty to 

 eighty joint-worm flies, produced from diseased stalks of wheat, I only pro- 

 cured one male answering to his description, and eight parasites, not quite 

 a tenth of an inch in lengtli, of a dark metallic shade, with yellow legs, and 

 the antennse much thicker at the end. These flies were furnished with four 

 transparent, dotted wings. It is somewhat incomprehensible how it happens 

 that so many females appear at the same time without more males. 



" Another four-winged fly also made its appearance from the same stalks, 

 of about an eighth of an inch in length, with an abdomen and legs of a 

 bright yellow. Tlie head and thorax were of a dark color, and somewhat 

 metallic luster. The wings were transparent, dotted, and fringed with short 

 hairs, and the piercer reached to the middle of the under part of tlie abdo- 

 men. Dr. Harris states that it has been found in Massachusetts, that [)low- 

 ing in the stubble has no eftect upon the insects, which remain alive and 

 iminjured under the slight covering of earth, and easily make their way to 

 the surface, when they have completed their transformation. A free use of 

 manure and thorough tillage, by promoting a rapid and vigorous growth of 

 the plant, may render it less liable to suffer from the attacks of the insect. 

 It has been stated that this fly, like the wheat-midge, does more injury on 

 the edges of fields than in the middle. 



" At the Joint-"Worm Convention, held at "Warrentown, Yirginia, in 1S5J-, 

 the following was recommended : Prepare well the land intended for wheat, 

 and sow it in the beginning of autumn with the earliest and most thrifty 

 und hardy varieties, and do nothing to retard the ripening of the crop by 

 grazing or otherwise. Use guano or some other fertilizer liberally, partic- 

 ularly when seeding corn-land or stubble. Burn the stubble on every field 

 of corn, rye, or oats, and all thickets or other harbors of vegetable growth 

 contiguous to the crop. Sow the wheat in as large bodies and in as compact 

 forms as practicable-; and if possible, neighbors should arrange among them- 

 selves to sow adjoining fields the same year. Feed all the wheat, or other 

 straw, which may be infected, in racks or pens, or on confined spots ; and 

 on or before the first of May carefully burn all tlie straw which hixs not been 

 fed. The refuse of wheat, such as screenings, etc., should also be destroyed, 

 as the pupa case is hard and not easily softened by dampness or wet." 



Wc can add nothing to this i)reventive, except a recommendation to com- 

 post the refuse of the cattle, instead of burning it. Make a heap that will 

 undergo a heating fermentation, and the eggs will be destroyed, and the 

 manure will he more vahial>le than tlie aslics. 



248. The lU'SSiau-Fly.— This is the common name of an insect that at one 

 time threatened to put a stop to wheat-growing in all the Northern and 

 Middle States. Tins insect {Ccc!(hm;/i<t (hstrxidor) obtained its name from 

 the fact of its (supposed) importation with the Hessian soldiers of the Revo- 

 lution, though this fact has been strongly disputed. It might have been in 



