86 PRIZE ESSAY : 



midge (Cecidomyia Tritici) occupy two-thirds of the entire 

 head.d) 



WHEAT MIDGE. 



(Nat. Size.) ^^ \ f / \^ 



Part of a, Female 

 Antenna. 



V 



FIG. I. MAGNIFIED CLEAK-WINGED WHEAT MIDGE. (Cetidomya trilid.) 



They are large, of a deep black colour, and are separated from 

 each other on the top of the head only by a light and almost im- 

 perceptible cleft, so that when viewed in front they appear like a 

 continuous broad black band surrounding the head. The face is 

 pale yellow. The antennae are of a deep brown or black colour, 

 less intense than the eyes, of the same length as the body and 

 composed of twelve joints. Each joint (Fig. h) is commonly 

 oblong, with a contraction in its middle, and is surrounded with 

 a row of hairs near its base, and another near its apex. The 

 joints of the antennae are connected by a slender thread. The 

 thorax is of a pale yellow colour ; the abdomen throughout of 

 an orange colour ; the wings are colourless, appearing like thin 

 plates of mica. Their margins are densely ciliated with hairs. 

 The legs are pale yellow ; the basal joint of the tarsi is the 

 shortest of all, its length little exceeding its diameter. All parts 

 of the body are clothed with minute hairs. 



(1 ) For a full and complete technical description of the AVheat Ply, or Midge, 

 see Dr. Fitch's Report, in Vol. V. Trans. N. Y. S. A. S., 1845. Many scientific terms 

 are omitted in the text, for obvious reasons. 



