

ANIMALS INJURIOUS TO FARM AND GARDEN PRODUCE. 15 



I have previously dealt with the life-history, 1 but in view of the 

 prominence it has assumed during the past season it may well be 

 repeated. 



LlFE-HlSTORY. 



The flies appear from April to May, the females depositing- their 

 et^'s on the leaves of the young- plants. On hatching, the larva 

 which is a small, fleshy, legless mag-got makes its way to the lower 

 part of the plant, and thence into the centre of the stem, subsequently 

 pupating there. About the middle of July the second brood of flies 

 appears ; and the females lay their eggs on various grasses, and, if 

 sufficiently developed, in the ears of oats and barley. 



The third brood of flies appears in August and September, the 

 females depositing their eggs on different wild grasses, and the flies 

 from this generation issuing from the puparia in the following spring. 



PREVENTIVE AND REMEDIAL MEASURES. 



The importance of early sowing will at once be fully recognized, 

 and the advantage of a dressing of artificials to stimulate growth. 



Wherever an attack has been noticed the previous season, the 

 land should be ploughed with a skim-coulter attached ; or deep plough- 

 ing resorted to. 



Oats and barley should be planted the next season as far away 

 as possible from areas previously affected. 



All wild grasses should be destroyed. 



15th Report on Inj. Insects, 1908, p. 43. 



