184 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STAPLE CROPS. 



little fly, resembling a mosquito, but only about one-tenth 

 as large; so small, in fact, that it is rarely noticed. 



Life-liistory. — The eggs are laid among the hairy spines 

 of the clover-head or beneath the bracts around the head. 

 They are of a reddish color and scarcely one-tenth of an 

 inch long. When the maggots emerge from them they 



Fig. 101. 



-The Clover Seed-midge (^Cecidomyia leguminicola). 

 fly; h, larva, enlarged. (After Riley.) 



a, 



enter the undeveloped florets, which they often prevent 

 from flowering. In this case some of the flowers in the 

 head will bloom, but the field as a whole does not blossom 

 as usual. Once inside the floret the maggots feed on the 

 developing seed. They are of a dark-red color, of a plump, 

 oval form, and without feet. When full-grown they leave 

 the florets and drop to the ground, into which they enter 

 and form a little, tough, papery cocoon, just under the 

 surface. In it they transform to the pupa, which ulti- 

 mately transforms to the adult fly. 



In the North two broods of the midge occur each year. 

 The maggots of the flrst and principal brood become full- 

 grown about the middle of June, and those of a smaller 



