1S2 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 



in New England. The transformations of some in each brood ap- 

 pear to be retarded beyond the usual time, as is found to be the 

 case with many other insects ; so that the life of these individuals, 

 from the egg to the winged state, extends to a year or more in 

 length, whereby the continuation of the species in after years is 

 made more sure. It has frequently been asserted that the flies lay 

 their eggs on the gram in the ear ; but whether this be true or not, 

 it is certain that they do lay their eggs on the young plants, and 

 long before the grain is ripe ; for many persons have witnessed and 

 testified to this fact. In the New England States and New York, 

 winter wheat is usually sown about the first of September. To- 

 wards the end of this month, and in October, when the grain has 

 sprouted, and begins to show a leaf or two, the flies appear in the 

 fields, and, having paired, begin to lay their eggs, in which business 

 they are occupied for several weeks. The Hessian fly lays her eggs 

 in the small creases of the young leaves of the wheat. If the 

 weather be warm, the eggs commonly hatch in four days after they 

 are laid. The maggots, when they first come out of the shells, are 

 of a pale red color. Forthwith they crawl down the leaf, and work 

 their way between it and the main stalk, passing downwards till 

 they come to a joint, just above which they remain, a little below 

 the surface of the ground, with the head towards the root of the 

 plant. Having thus fixed themselves upon the stalk, they become 

 stationary, and never move from the place till their transformations 

 are completed. They do not eat the stalk, neither do they pene- 

 trate within it, as some persons have supposed, but they lie length- 

 wise upon its surface, covered by the lower part of the leaves, and 

 are nourished wholly by the sap, which they appear to take by suc- 

 tion. They soon lose their reddish color, turn pale, and will be 

 found to be clouded with whitish spots ; and through their trans- 

 parent skins a greenish stripe may be seen in the middle of their 

 bodies. As they increase in size, and grow plump and firm, they 

 become imbedded in the side of the stem, by the pressure of their 

 bodies upon the growing plant. One maggot thus placed seldom 

 destroys the plant ; but, when two or three are fixed in this man- 

 ner around the stem, they weaken and impoverish the plant, and 

 cause it to fall down, or to wither and die. They usually come to 

 their full size in five or six weeks, and then measure about three 

 twentieths of an inch in length. Their skin now gradually hardens, 

 becomes brownish, and soon changes to a bright chestnut color. 

 This change usually happens about the first of December, when the 



