INSECTS iNJORIOrs TO WHEAT. 99 



this point; and thus the insect after it had reached the 

 adult state could easily escape; while but for this cut it 

 would be ver}^ liable to be imprisoned in the straw/' 

 Ordinarily, the straw is cut by the reaper before it becomes 

 broken; but a strong wind Just before harvest will cause 

 a large number of stalks to become broken, much as if 

 affected by the Hessian Fly. 



''After the circular cut has been made, the larva fills 

 the cavity of the straw just below it for a short distance 

 with a plug of borings. Between this plug and the lower 

 end of the cavity of the straw there is a place about one- 

 half an inch in length. It is here that the insect passes 

 the winter." This cell is lined with silk so as to form a 

 warm cocoon. Here the larva passes the winter and 

 changes to a pupa in March or April. The adult insect 

 emerges early in May. The adults are four-winded insects 

 and are popularly known as Saw-flies on account of the 

 saw-like ovipositor of the female, by means of which she 

 inserts her eggs in the tissue of the plant. This species is 

 quite different in some respects from the saw-flies feeding 

 upon the leaves of wheat, and belongs to the family 

 Cephidce. 



The female commences to lay eggs by the middle of 

 May. By means of her sharp ovipositor she makes a very 

 small slit any jilace in the stalk of the plant and in this 

 thrusts a small white Qgg — about one one-lmndredth of an 

 inch long — which is pushed clear through the walls of the 

 straw and left adhering to the inside. Though several 

 eggs are deposited in a straw, but one larva usually 

 develops. '- The eggs hatch soon after they are laid, and 

 the larva? may develop quite rapidly. A larva which 

 hatched from an Qgg laid May 13th was found to have 



