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benefit of definite opinion that it was Cecidomyia de- 

 structor, Say. Further, I have had the opportunity of 

 submitting the whole series of specimens to Mr. John 

 Marten, of Albion, Illinois, U.S.A., one of the economic 

 entomologists of Illinois, known by his papers on in- 

 jurious insects, published in Keports of the Department 

 of Agriculture, U.S.A., and whose opinion is of much 

 value, as having made a special study of the Hessian 

 Fly. 



Abstract of Life-History. 



The following extract from a German source* gives 

 the main points of the life-history of the fly in Europe 

 in short and plain form : 



" Cecidomyia destructor, Say. The larvae live in the 

 haulm of wheat, rye, and barley. The female flies 

 usually lay their eggs on the young leaves twice in the 

 year, in May and September, out of which eggs the 

 maggots hatch in fourteen days. These work themselves 

 in between the leaf-sheath and the stem, and fix them- 

 selves near the three lowest joints, often near the root, 

 and suck the juices of the stem, so that later on the ear, 

 which only produces small or few grains, falls down at 

 a sharp angle. Six or eight maggots may be found 

 together, which turn to pupae in spring or about the end 

 of July, from which the flies develop in ten days." 

 Stett. Ent. Zeit., xxi., p. 320. 



Where does Hessian Fly come from ? 



The question now arises, Where does the attack of 

 Hessian Fly come from ? It does not appear to have 

 risen up gradually in the country, as we find it widely 

 spread, that is, in various parts of Scotland, as well as 

 in one district of England, without any observation of 

 its previous presence having been reported from any 

 quarter, although the attack is of a kind which is very 

 observable, and attention is given to insect injuries to 

 the crops more or less in every part of the island. It 



* See Die Pflanzen feinde, von J. H. Kaltenbach. Stuttgart. 



