﻿PACKAKD.] 
  THE 
  HESSIAN 
  FLY. 
  695 
  

  

  Remedies. 
  — 
  While 
  the 
  best 
  T?ay 
  to 
  encounter 
  this 
  insect 
  is 
  to 
  breed 
  

   and 
  set 
  loose 
  the 
  natural 
  insect-parasites 
  which 
  prey 
  upon 
  it, 
  the 
  most 
  

   obvious 
  remedy 
  is 
  to 
  burn 
  the 
  stubble 
  in 
  the 
  autumn 
  or 
  early 
  spring 
  for 
  

   several 
  years 
  in 
  succession. 
  If 
  farmers 
  would 
  co-operate, 
  this 
  means 
  

   would 
  be 
  suf&cient 
  to 
  so 
  reduce 
  the 
  numbers 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  that 
  its 
  

   attacks 
  would 
  be 
  comparatively 
  harmless. 
  Plowing 
  in 
  the 
  soil 
  is 
  of 
  

   no 
  use 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  this 
  insect, 
  as 
  the 
  fly 
  would 
  easily 
  find 
  its 
  way 
  up 
  

   to 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  ground. 
  

  

  The 
  Hessian 
  Fly, 
  Cecidomyia 
  destructor 
  of 
  Say. 
  (Plate 
  LXV, 
  

   rig. 
  1.) 
  

  

  Two 
  or 
  three 
  small, 
  reddish- 
  white 
  maggots 
  embedded 
  in 
  the 
  crown 
  of 
  the 
  roots 
  or 
  

   jast 
  above 
  the 
  lower 
  joint, 
  causing 
  the 
  stalks 
  and 
  leaves 
  to 
  wither 
  and 
  die; 
  the 
  mag- 
  

   gots 
  harden, 
  turn 
  brown, 
  then 
  resembling 
  a 
  flaxseed, 
  and 
  change 
  into 
  little 
  black 
  

   midges 
  with 
  smoky 
  wings, 
  which 
  appear 
  in 
  spring 
  and 
  autumn, 
  and 
  lay 
  from 
  twenty 
  

   to 
  thirty 
  eggs 
  in 
  a 
  crease 
  ia 
  the 
  leaf 
  of 
  the 
  young 
  plant. 
  

  

  The 
  Hessian 
  fly 
  was 
  so 
  called 
  because 
  it 
  was 
  first 
  noticed 
  as 
  injurious 
  

   to 
  wheat 
  during 
  the 
  revolutionary 
  war, 
  and 
  was 
  thought 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  

   imported 
  from 
  Europe 
  in 
  some 
  straw 
  by 
  the 
  Hessian 
  troops. 
  '^It 
  was 
  

   first 
  observed 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  1776 
  in 
  the 
  neighborhood 
  of 
  Sir 
  William 
  

   Howe's 
  debarkation 
  on 
  Staten 
  Island, 
  and 
  at 
  Flatbush, 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  

   end 
  of 
  Long 
  Island. 
  Having 
  multiplied 
  in 
  these 
  places, 
  the 
  insects 
  

   gradually 
  spread 
  over 
  the 
  southern 
  parts 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  and 
  Connecticut, 
  

   and 
  continued 
  to 
  proceed 
  inland 
  at 
  the 
  rate 
  of 
  15 
  or 
  20 
  miles 
  a 
  year. 
  

   They 
  reached 
  Saratoga, 
  200 
  miles 
  from 
  their 
  original 
  station, 
  in 
  1789. 
  

   •Dr. 
  Chapman 
  says 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  found 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  Alleghany 
  Mount- 
  

   ains 
  in 
  1797 
  ; 
  from 
  their 
  progress 
  through 
  the 
  country, 
  having 
  appa- 
  

   rently 
  advanced 
  about 
  30 
  miles 
  every 
  summer. 
  Wheat, 
  rye, 
  barley, 
  

   and 
  even 
  timothy-grass, 
  were 
  attacked 
  by 
  them; 
  and 
  so 
  great 
  were 
  their 
  

   ravages 
  in 
  the 
  larva 
  state 
  that 
  the 
  cultivation 
  of 
  wheat 
  was 
  abandoned 
  

   in 
  many 
  places 
  where 
  they 
  had 
  established 
  themselves." 
  — 
  (Harris.) 
  Dr. 
  

   Fitch 
  also 
  thinks 
  that 
  this 
  is 
  an 
  European 
  importation, 
  but 
  Curtis 
  in 
  

   his 
  "Farm 
  Insects" 
  doubts 
  whether 
  the 
  European 
  midge 
  be 
  of 
  the 
  

   same 
  species. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  reported 
  by 
  Kollar 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  known 
  in 
  

   Europe 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  1833, 
  and 
  by 
  later 
  observers 
  to 
  be 
  commonly 
  diffused 
  

   in 
  Europe, 
  and 
  Kollar 
  pronounces 
  it 
  as 
  indigenous 
  to 
  Europe. 
  Of 
  late 
  

   years 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  reported 
  to 
  be 
  so 
  destructive 
  as 
  formerly, 
  and 
  no 
  

   mention 
  is 
  made 
  of 
  it 
  by 
  the 
  different 
  State 
  entomologists 
  in 
  their 
  an- 
  

   nual 
  reports. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  accompanying 
  map 
  showing 
  the 
  probable 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  

   Hessian 
  fly 
  and 
  wheat-midge, 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  mainly 
  dependent 
  for 
  my 
  

   data 
  regarding 
  its 
  distribution 
  south 
  and 
  west 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  upon 
  

   the 
  Monthly 
  Reports 
  of 
  the 
  Agricultural 
  Department 
  at 
  Washington. 
  

   But 
  the 
  information 
  there 
  given, 
  I 
  regard 
  as 
  quite 
  unreliable 
  and 
  un- 
  

   satisfactory. 
  It 
  is 
  quite 
  likely 
  that 
  the 
  Hessian 
  fly 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  in 
  

   those 
  reports 
  confounded 
  with 
  the 
  wheat-midge 
  and 
  vice 
  versa., 
  or 
  that 
  

   when 
  the 
  "fly" 
  is 
  mentioned 
  as 
  injuring 
  the 
  wheat-crop, 
  some 
  other 
  

   fly 
  or 
  insect 
  has 
  been 
  the 
  culprit. 
  If, 
  therefore, 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  in 
  error, 
  it 
  

   will 
  be 
  from 
  causes 
  beyond 
  my 
  control. 
  At 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  un- 
  

   likely 
  that 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  distribution 
  of 
  both 
  these 
  insects 
  may 
  be 
  found 
  

   to 
  coincide 
  with 
  that 
  of 
  each 
  of 
  the 
  two, 
  and 
  with 
  that 
  representing 
  the 
  

   cultivation 
  of 
  wheat.* 
  This 
  latter 
  has 
  been 
  taken 
  from 
  a 
  map 
  compiled 
  

  

  * 
  Specimens 
  of 
  the 
  Hessian 
  fly, 
  wheat-midge, 
  and 
  joint-worm, 
  and 
  notes 
  on 
  their 
  

   habits 
  and 
  ravages, 
  are 
  earnestly 
  desired 
  by 
  the 
  writer 
  for 
  aid 
  in 
  improving 
  and 
  cor- 
  

   recting 
  the 
  maps 
  herewith 
  presented. 
  Specimens 
  of 
  this 
  insect 
  and 
  the 
  wheat-midge 
  

   from 
  all 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  are 
  earnestly 
  desired 
  by 
  the 
  author. 
  

  

  