﻿240 
  EEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  COMMISSION. 
  

  

  As 
  stated 
  by 
  Drs. 
  Harris 
  and 
  Fitch, 
  the 
  Wheat 
  Midge 
  was 
  abundant 
  

   and 
  widespread 
  in 
  England 
  several 
  years 
  previous 
  to 
  1771 
  5 
  it 
  was 
  com- 
  

   mon 
  in 
  Scotland 
  and 
  Ireland, 
  and 
  according 
  to 
  Herpin 
  it 
  abounded 
  in 
  

   France. 
  It 
  is 
  undoubtedly 
  a 
  native 
  of 
  northern 
  Europe, 
  and 
  adapted 
  

   to 
  a 
  cool 
  and 
  moist 
  climate. 
  There 
  is 
  every 
  reason 
  to 
  suppose 
  that 
  the 
  

   Diplosis 
  tritici 
  was 
  not 
  a 
  native 
  of 
  this 
  country, 
  but 
  was 
  imported 
  in 
  the 
  

   beginning 
  of 
  this 
  century 
  from 
  Great 
  Britain 
  into 
  either 
  Canada 
  or 
  New 
  

   England. 
  Harris 
  states 
  that 
  it 
  first 
  appeared 
  in 
  this 
  country 
  in 
  west- 
  

   ern 
  Yermont, 
  in 
  1820 
  5 
  by 
  1828, 
  it 
  had 
  attracted 
  notice 
  in 
  northern 
  Ver- 
  

   mont, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  borders 
  of 
  Lower 
  Canada; 
  from 
  these 
  places 
  it 
  osrer- 
  

   ran 
  IsTew 
  England, 
  New 
  Brunswick, 
  and 
  Nova 
  Scotia, 
  also 
  extending-- 
  

   west. 
  It 
  has 
  from 
  the 
  year 
  1834 
  been 
  the 
  chief 
  wheat 
  pest 
  in 
  the 
  cooler 
  

   portions 
  of 
  Maine, 
  flourishing 
  where 
  the 
  Hessian 
  Fly 
  is 
  comparatively 
  

   or 
  wholly 
  unknown. 
  

  

  It 
  seems 
  to 
  us 
  that 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  insects 
  shows 
  quite 
  conclu- 
  

   sively 
  that 
  both 
  are 
  European 
  importations; 
  the 
  Wheat 
  Midge 
  from 
  

   northern 
  Europe, 
  and 
  the 
  Hessian 
  Fly 
  an 
  earlier 
  importation 
  from 
  tlie 
  

   Mediterranean 
  wheat 
  fields, 
  and 
  which 
  flourishes 
  therefore 
  better 
  in 
  the 
  

   warmer 
  regions 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  than 
  the 
  Wheat 
  Midge, 
  a 
  native 
  

   of 
  northern 
  Europe. 
  

  

  ITS 
  DISTRIBUTION 
  IN 
  NORTH 
  AMERICA. 
  

  

  Introduced, 
  then, 
  by 
  causes 
  unknown, 
  into 
  New 
  York 
  and 
  Long 
  

   Island, 
  the 
  Hessian 
  Fly 
  gradually 
  spread 
  over 
  the 
  wheat 
  area 
  of 
  the 
  

   colonies, 
  and 
  afterwards 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  enlarging 
  its 
  limits 
  of 
  

   distribution 
  with 
  the 
  corresponding 
  increase 
  in 
  the 
  extent 
  of 
  the 
  wheat 
  

   area 
  of 
  our 
  country. 
  

  

  It 
  spread 
  more 
  rapidly 
  at 
  first 
  towards 
  the 
  eastward, 
  nearly 
  to 
  the 
  

   end 
  of 
  Long 
  Island 
  and 
  to 
  Shelter 
  Island. 
  As 
  Havens 
  remarks, 
  " 
  It 
  was 
  

   first 
  perceived 
  a 
  little 
  before 
  harvest, 
  and 
  appeared 
  to 
  have 
  come 
  from 
  

   the 
  west 
  end 
  of 
  Long 
  Island 
  in 
  a 
  gradual 
  progress 
  of 
  between 
  twenty 
  

   and 
  thirty 
  miles 
  a 
  year." 
  

  

  In 
  ten 
  years 
  after 
  its 
  first 
  recorded 
  appearance 
  in 
  America 
  it 
  reached 
  

   Prospect, 
  N. 
  J., 
  about 
  forty 
  miles 
  southwest 
  of 
  Staten 
  Island, 
  and 
  in 
  

   1788 
  it 
  was 
  noticed 
  at 
  Trenton, 
  N. 
  J., 
  and 
  in 
  Pennsylvania. 
  Undoubt- 
  

   edly, 
  had 
  there 
  been 
  railroads 
  at 
  that 
  time, 
  with 
  the 
  rapid 
  transit 
  of 
  

   grain-cars 
  and 
  bales 
  of 
  hay 
  and 
  straw, 
  it 
  would 
  have 
  spread 
  at 
  least 
  

   with 
  three 
  times 
  the 
  rapidity 
  of 
  its 
  recordeda"ate 
  of 
  difl'usion. 
  

  

  In 
  1789 
  the 
  fly 
  first 
  reached 
  Saratoga, 
  a 
  point 
  situated 
  200 
  miles 
  north 
  

   of 
  its 
  original 
  point 
  of 
  departure. 
  "The 
  insect 
  reached 
  here 
  by 
  a 
  reg- 
  

   ular 
  progress 
  from 
  the 
  south, 
  coming 
  nearer 
  and 
  nearer 
  each 
  successive 
  

   year." 
  

  

  It 
  appeared 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  Alleghanies 
  in 
  1797, 
  though 
  in 
  what 
  State 
  we 
  

   are 
  unable 
  to 
  learn 
  ; 
  while 
  Yirginia 
  was 
  invaded 
  in 
  1801, 
  and 
  North 
  

   Carolina 
  about 
  the 
  year 
  1840. 
  Westward 
  its 
  progress 
  brought 
  it 
  to 
  

   Ohio 
  in 
  1840, 
  and 
  three 
  years 
  later 
  it 
  was 
  detected 
  in 
  Michigan. 
  In 
  

  

  