A FOREIGN INVASION OF ENGLAND 289 



(a second brood) on the new sprouting barley. 

 One industrious female which Mr. Knock watched 

 when so employed laid no less than 158 eggs on 

 six distinct plants ; while another laid eighty on a 

 single leaf. He has noted in detail many cases in 

 the same way, and all show an astonishingly high 

 level of matu- 

 rity. The eggs 

 are extremely 

 m i n u t e, a n d 

 are pale orange 

 in colour, with 

 reddish dots. 

 Most of them 

 are deposited 

 on the leaf 

 itself, or on the 

 sheath or tube 

 which forms its 

 lower portion. 

 And now 

 see how clever 

 this dainty 

 little creature 

 is ! She lays 



her eggs with the head end downward ; and as 

 soon as the tiny grub hatches, which it does 

 about the fourth day, it emerges from the shell, 

 and walks straight down towards the stem, at the 

 point where the protecting leaf-sheath is wrapped 

 closely round it. The worm forces itself in 

 between the stem and the sheath, and after 



T 



NO. 2. THE SOURCE OF THE MISCHIEF: 

 THE HESSIAN FLY. 



