LEPIDOPTERA 311 



Lampronia rubiella, Bjerk. Raspberry-bud Caterpillar 

 Introduced from Britain. The report of the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment for 1904 states that the caterpillar was found on raspberry 

 plants at Wellington and Hastings ; and in the following year it was 

 observed at Kaiapoi. 



Family HEPIALIDM 



(?) Perissectes australasice, Donovan 

 This Australian moth was found at Woodville in the spring of 1918. 



Order DIPTERA 



Family CECIDOMYIID/E 



Cecidomyia destructor, Say. Hessian Fly 



This much-dreaded pest has been present in all wheat- and 

 barley-growing districts in New Zealand for the last 30 or 40 years, 

 but has generally been kept well under observation and reduced 

 by stubble burning. The fly was first detected in wheat at Marton 

 in 1888, and at the same time Mr Hudson stated that large numbers 

 of a hymenopterous parasite were observed. Mr Maskell thought 

 these latter insects belonged to the family Proctotrupidae, and that 

 they were indigenous to New Zealand. This first attack involved 

 some 200 acres of wheat. In 1892 about 1300 acres in the Marton 

 district were attacked, and the fly appeared in the beginning of 1893 

 at Balclutha. During that year over 7000 acres in Bruce County were 

 in wheat, and half of it was badly damaged by the fly; also about 

 200 acres were attacked in Clutha County. It appeared also in 

 Tuapeka County, and in Nelson and Blenheim. The Government 

 then arranged for some thousands of infected puparia of the Hessian 

 fly to be sent from England, and in this way two parasites Pleurotropus 

 epigonus and Platygaster minutus were introduced into the colony. 



In 1894 the fly was severely felt in Masterton and Bruce, and in 

 the former district many farmers abandoned the cultivation of wheat. 

 In 1896 Semiotellus was found somewhat freely in the Bruce district, 

 but no Hessian fly was recorded. In the following year the fly was 

 thinly distributed about Waimate, Timaru, Oamaru and in Bruce. 



In more recent years the fly has been recorded from time to time, 

 but it is now negligible as a pest. 



Hessian fly attacks rye, and it has been stated that it never attacks 

 oats. This, however, is incorrect, for Mr Howes informs me that 

 badly affected oats have been sent from Balfour in Southland, in 

 which "the introduced control insects were more numerous than the 

 Cecidomyids." The fly also has been found on the following grasses: 



