618 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Family CECIDOMYID-ffi. 



Small, slender, mosquito like flies, with broad wings, long, cylindrical or 

 bead-like antennae, and small, poorly developed mouth parts. As a whole they 

 are rather fragile in appearance, the males often with whorls of long hair on 

 the antennal joints. They are popularly known as " gall gnats," or " midges," 

 and contain some of our most troublesome species. The larvse are small 

 oval grubs, bluntly pointed at both ends, often with a chitinous process on the 

 under side called a breast bone. Their habits in the larval stage are very 

 diverse, but almost always they feed on growing vegetation, and are actually or 

 potentially injurious. Many form more or less obvious galls, and often they 

 live in colonies. Their methods of attack vary, and the treatment to be 

 adopted must be suited to each individual case. Insecticides are often unavail- 

 able, and a modification of the ordinary farm practice is necessary to reach the 

 pests. 



CECIDOMYIA Meigen. 



C. destructor Say. "The Hessian fly" sometimes does great damage to 

 wheat, chiefly north of the red shale line. Remedial measures are, chiefly, 

 planting a scant early trap-crop in late August or early September ; turn- 

 ing this under in late September and planting the main crop immediately 

 thereafter. 



Fig. 291. — Cecidomyia oxycoccana, the cranberry " tip- worm " : much enlarged. 



