﻿212 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  COMMISSION. 
  

  

  Eggs 
  deposited 
  in 
  irregular 
  rows 
  in 
  tlie 
  longitudinal 
  cavities 
  and 
  depressions 
  of 
  

   ■wheat 
  stalks 
  between 
  the 
  stalk 
  and 
  sheath 
  when 
  this 
  is 
  loose, 
  or 
  on 
  the 
  leaves 
  between 
  

   the 
  natural 
  ridges 
  or 
  cariuse 
  of 
  the 
  upper 
  surface, 
  this 
  last 
  being 
  the 
  more 
  common 
  

   habit. 
  Ordinarily 
  there 
  are 
  from 
  five 
  to 
  ten 
  in 
  a 
  row, 
  but 
  sometimes 
  more. 
  Each 
  egg 
  

   .02 
  inch 
  long, 
  cylindrical, 
  rounded 
  at 
  each 
  end, 
  soft, 
  translucent, 
  and 
  pale 
  orange-red 
  

   in 
  color. 
  Before 
  hatching, 
  the 
  pale 
  sides 
  of 
  the 
  inclosed 
  larva 
  show 
  through 
  the 
  shell. 
  

   Larva 
  batched 
  in 
  four 
  days 
  ; 
  crawls 
  down 
  leaf 
  to 
  base 
  of 
  sheath, 
  which 
  on 
  youjig 
  

   grain 
  is 
  at 
  crown 
  of 
  root. 
  The 
  orange-red 
  tjolor 
  is 
  soon 
  lost, 
  and 
  the 
  larva 
  becomes 
  

   pale, 
  translucent, 
  and 
  plump, 
  sinking 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  into 
  the 
  stalk 
  by 
  the 
  depleting 
  

   process 
  kept 
  up. 
  

  

  In 
  an 
  article 
  in 
  a 
  Saint 
  Louis 
  paper 
  I 
  described, 
  last 
  June, 
  the 
  process 
  of 
  oviijosition 
  

   on 
  the 
  leaves, 
  and 
  my 
  own 
  observations 
  in 
  Missouri 
  accord 
  entirely 
  with 
  those 
  of 
  E. 
  

   Tilghman 
  recorded 
  in 
  1820, 
  and 
  of 
  E. 
  C. 
  Herrickin 
  1844, 
  and 
  quoted 
  by 
  Fitch 
  in 
  his 
  

   essay 
  on 
  the 
  Hessian 
  Fly 
  (Albany, 
  1846), 
  with 
  the 
  exception 
  that 
  they 
  do 
  not 
  mention 
  

   the 
  exceptional 
  habit 
  of 
  pushing 
  the 
  eggs 
  between 
  the 
  sheath 
  and 
  the 
  stalk, 
  owing 
  

   doubtless 
  to 
  tbe 
  fact 
  that 
  their 
  observations 
  were 
  made 
  solely 
  on 
  the 
  autumn 
  brood 
  

   of 
  flies 
  ovipositing 
  on 
  the 
  young 
  plants, 
  the 
  habit 
  being 
  more 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  

   summer 
  brood 
  when 
  the 
  plants 
  are 
  larger. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  William 
  StroDg, 
  of 
  Kalamazoo 
  County, 
  Micliigan, 
  thus 
  describes 
  

   the 
  process, 
  adding 
  some 
  particulars 
  of 
  interest 
  : 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  seen 
  the 
  wheat 
  plant 
  with 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  maggots 
  at 
  work 
  before 
  there 
  was 
  

   any 
  stalk 
  for 
  the 
  fly 
  to 
  lay 
  its 
  eggs 
  on, 
  by 
  introducing 
  its 
  extensile 
  abdominal 
  tip 
  under 
  

   the 
  leaf 
  sheath. 
  Even 
  this 
  fall 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  this 
  very 
  thing 
  when 
  there 
  was 
  as 
  yet 
  but 
  

   one 
  shoot 
  from 
  the 
  kernel, 
  having 
  but 
  three 
  leaves, 
  the 
  wheat 
  having 
  been 
  sowed 
  not 
  

   more 
  than 
  three 
  weeks. 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  these 
  maggots 
  when 
  too 
  small 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  without 
  

   the 
  aid 
  of 
  a 
  glass, 
  so 
  low 
  down 
  towards 
  the 
  kernel, 
  which 
  was 
  sowed 
  with 
  a 
  drill, 
  that 
  

   if 
  the 
  fly 
  had 
  deposited 
  the 
  eggs 
  under 
  the 
  leaf 
  on 
  the 
  stalk, 
  if 
  there 
  had 
  been 
  one 
  

   there, 
  she 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  obliged 
  to 
  use 
  a 
  spade 
  to 
  dig 
  to 
  get 
  a 
  chance. 
  I 
  am 
  not 
  

   the 
  only 
  one 
  who 
  believes 
  that 
  the 
  egg 
  is 
  laid 
  on 
  the 
  leaf 
  and 
  hatches 
  there, 
  when 
  the 
  

   small 
  maggot 
  works 
  its 
  way 
  down 
  inside 
  of 
  the 
  leaf 
  as 
  low 
  as 
  possible. 
  If 
  there 
  should 
  

   be 
  fifteen 
  or 
  twenty 
  on 
  one 
  leaf 
  (not 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  to 
  find 
  the 
  past 
  year 
  under 
  one 
  

   leaf), 
  of 
  course 
  as 
  they 
  took 
  their 
  places 
  they 
  would 
  be 
  somewhat 
  in 
  rows, 
  but 
  they, 
  

   of 
  course, 
  are 
  not 
  the 
  ''eggs 
  placed 
  in 
  the 
  longitudinal 
  grooves 
  of 
  the 
  stalk." 
  

  

  In 
  Solon 
  Robinson's 
  "Facts 
  for 
  Farmers," 
  page 
  214, 
  we 
  read 
  : 
  ''The 
  female 
  deposits 
  

   her 
  eggs 
  soon 
  after 
  the 
  wheat 
  begins 
  to 
  grow, 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  in 
  the 
  cavities 
  between 
  the 
  

   little 
  ridges 
  of 
  the 
  blades. 
  In 
  from 
  four 
  to 
  fifteen 
  days 
  the 
  eggs 
  hatch 
  and 
  the 
  dimin- 
  

   utive 
  maggots 
  work 
  down 
  into 
  the 
  leaf-sheath 
  and 
  there 
  spend 
  the 
  winter." 
  In 
  the 
  

   Kalamazoo 
  Tdenrajy'h 
  for 
  November 
  7, 
  this 
  year, 
  are 
  a 
  few 
  lines 
  upon 
  the 
  Hessian 
  Fly 
  

   by 
  M. 
  B. 
  Bateham, 
  of 
  Ohio. 
  He 
  is 
  too 
  well 
  known 
  to 
  need 
  an 
  introduction 
  at 
  this 
  

   time. 
  He 
  says: 
  "In 
  the 
  spring, 
  with 
  the 
  first 
  warm 
  weather, 
  the 
  fly 
  will 
  come 
  forth 
  

   and 
  deposit 
  its 
  eggs 
  upon 
  the 
  leaf, 
  which 
  will 
  then 
  soon 
  hatch, 
  when 
  the 
  worms, 
  

   crawling 
  down 
  the 
  leaf, 
  feed 
  upon 
  the 
  stalk, 
  injuring 
  its 
  growth, 
  often 
  causing 
  it 
  to 
  

   die." 
  A 
  reason 
  given 
  by 
  some 
  why 
  the 
  fly 
  does 
  not 
  injure 
  red 
  wheat 
  as 
  much 
  as 
  white 
  

   is 
  because 
  the 
  leaf 
  of 
  the 
  red 
  grows 
  so 
  long 
  and 
  slants 
  down 
  from 
  the 
  shoot 
  so 
  that 
  

   when 
  the 
  egg 
  hatches 
  the 
  maggot 
  works 
  down 
  the 
  wrong 
  way, 
  falls 
  to 
  the 
  ground, 
  

   and 
  so 
  many 
  fail 
  to 
  harm 
  the 
  wheat. 
  ^ 
  

  

  A 
  writer 
  in 
  the 
  Country 
  Gentleman, 
  Mr. 
  Caleb 
  S. 
  Fuller, 
  of 
  Jackson 
  

   County, 
  Michigan, 
  says: 
  

  

  The 
  fly 
  comniences 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  the 
  wheat 
  is 
  up 
  an 
  inch 
  high. 
  I 
  placed 
  in 
  a 
  glass 
  

   fruit 
  jar 
  some 
  stools 
  of 
  wheat 
  which 
  was 
  sown 
  on 
  the 
  31st 
  of 
  August, 
  and 
  about 
  the 
  

   15th 
  of 
  October 
  the 
  fly 
  hatched 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  brown 
  eggs 
  [puparia] 
  which 
  were 
  in 
  the 
  

   wheat 
  in 
  large 
  numbers, 
  and 
  was 
  a 
  lively 
  little 
  black 
  fellow 
  about 
  one-eighth 
  of 
  an 
  

   inch 
  long. 
  Now, 
  if 
  the 
  eggs 
  were 
  deposited 
  about 
  the 
  8th 
  of 
  September, 
  as 
  that 
  is 
  as 
  

   soon 
  as 
  the 
  wheat 
  would 
  be 
  large 
  enough 
  for 
  them, 
  it 
  would 
  give 
  them 
  about 
  37. 
  days 
  

  

  