﻿[32] 
  EEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  COMMISSION. 
  

  

  tins 
  assumption. 
  The 
  wlieat-worm, 
  by 
  the 
  way, 
  offers 
  perhaps 
  the 
  only 
  

   anomaly 
  among 
  all 
  Cecidomyidce 
  of 
  pupating 
  in 
  the 
  larval 
  envelope.* 
  

   As 
  we 
  are 
  not 
  aware 
  of 
  any 
  other 
  Cecidomyia 
  which 
  destroys 
  cereals 
  

   in 
  a 
  manner 
  similar 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  wheat-worm, 
  Loew's 
  reputation 
  not 
  

   allowing 
  the 
  least 
  doubt 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  correctness 
  of 
  that 
  discovery, 
  the 
  

   assumption 
  that 
  the 
  Asiatic 
  species 
  is 
  identical 
  with 
  our 
  wheat- 
  worm 
  

   gains 
  probability. 
  

  

  When 
  Dana 
  discovered 
  the 
  fly 
  f 
  at 
  Mahon 
  the 
  natives 
  said 
  that 
  ^' 
  the 
  

   insect 
  had 
  been 
  therefrom 
  time 
  immemorial, 
  and 
  often 
  did 
  great 
  damage 
  

   both 
  there 
  and 
  in 
  Si)ain"[!]. 
  This 
  statement 
  clearly 
  proves 
  that 
  the 
  

   wheat- 
  worm 
  was 
  distributed 
  from 
  the 
  Orient 
  over 
  southern 
  Europe. 
  

  

  When 
  and 
  from 
  what 
  shore 
  the 
  insect 
  came 
  to 
  America 
  can 
  never 
  

   be 
  accurately 
  determined. 
  Probably 
  it 
  was 
  introduced 
  several 
  times 
  

   and 
  at 
  different 
  times. 
  That 
  it 
  happened 
  from 
  the 
  shore 
  of 
  a 
  European 
  

   state 
  previously 
  possessing 
  colonies 
  in 
  North 
  America 
  must 
  be 
  ac- 
  

   cepted. 
  It 
  cannot 
  have 
  occurred 
  from 
  England 
  ; 
  when 
  Banks 
  reported 
  

   its 
  non-occurrence 
  in 
  all 
  parts 
  of 
  Eurox)e 
  this 
  may 
  apply 
  to 
  England. 
  

   Holland 
  and 
  Belgium 
  we 
  may 
  justly 
  omit. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  not 
  only 
  

   the 
  long-existing 
  occurrence 
  of 
  the 
  insect 
  in 
  southern 
  France 
  speaks 
  

   for 
  the 
  introduction 
  from 
  the 
  French 
  coast 
  to 
  the 
  once 
  so 
  extended 
  pos- 
  

   sessions 
  of 
  the 
  French 
  in 
  North 
  America, 
  but 
  also 
  the 
  comparatively 
  

   short 
  distance, 
  which 
  facilitated 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  infected 
  straw, 
  thus 
  

   enabling 
  the 
  insect 
  to 
  issue 
  after 
  arriving. 
  

  

  In 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  lively 
  traffic 
  of 
  our 
  continent, 
  existing 
  already 
  centu- 
  

   ries 
  before 
  the 
  American 
  War 
  of 
  Independence, 
  with 
  the 
  European 
  colo- 
  

   nies 
  on 
  the 
  west, 
  we 
  ought 
  to 
  wonder, 
  indeed, 
  that 
  the 
  insect 
  had 
  been 
  

   introduced 
  so 
  late. 
  We 
  are 
  quasi 
  compelled 
  to 
  assume 
  that 
  the 
  insect 
  

   existed 
  already 
  some 
  time 
  before 
  that 
  war 
  in 
  America, 
  and 
  there, 
  as 
  

   elsewhere, 
  had 
  only 
  been 
  overlooked. 
  The 
  immensely 
  numerous 
  appear- 
  

   ance 
  of 
  the 
  insect 
  in 
  1779 
  can 
  only 
  be 
  exi)laiued 
  by 
  this. 
  For 
  a 
  proof 
  

   as 
  to 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  our 
  insect 
  in 
  America 
  long 
  before 
  the 
  arrival 
  of 
  

   those 
  Hessian 
  troops 
  we 
  lack, 
  however, 
  all 
  points 
  of 
  consideration.. 
  

   In 
  Fitch 
  we 
  nevertheless 
  meet 
  with 
  a 
  citation 
  which 
  nearly 
  equals 
  

   the 
  distrust 
  which 
  he 
  himself 
  displays 
  in 
  his 
  preceding 
  demonstration. 
  

   It 
  oddly 
  sounds 
  thus 
  : 
  The 
  late 
  Judge 
  Hickock, 
  of 
  Lansingburgh, 
  N. 
  Y., 
  

   in 
  a 
  communication 
  to 
  the 
  Board 
  of 
  Agriculture 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  1823, 
  and 
  

   published 
  in 
  the 
  Memoirs 
  (vol. 
  ii, 
  p. 
  1C9), 
  says: 
  

  

  A 
  respectable 
  and 
  observing 
  farmer 
  of 
  tbis 
  town, 
  Col. 
  James 
  BrooMns, 
  bas 
  informed 
  

   me, 
  tbat 
  on 
  bis 
  first 
  bearing 
  of 
  tbe 
  alarm 
  on 
  Long 
  Island, 
  in 
  tbe 
  year 
  1786, 
  (doubtless, 
  

   1776 
  is 
  intended,) 
  and 
  many 
  years 
  before 
  its 
  ravages 
  were 
  complained 
  of 
  in 
  tbis 
  part 
  

   of 
  tbe 
  country, 
  be 
  detected 
  tbe 
  same 
  insect, 
  upon 
  examining 
  tbe 
  wbeat 
  growing 
  on 
  bis 
  

   farm 
  in 
  tbis 
  town. 
  

  

  Fitch 
  presumes 
  that 
  the 
  insect 
  found 
  by 
  Colonel 
  Brookins 
  was 
  some 
  

   other 
  one, 
  and 
  we 
  will 
  not 
  deny 
  the 
  possibility 
  of 
  such 
  an 
  error. 
  But 
  

   we 
  have 
  to 
  consider 
  that 
  the 
  attacks 
  of 
  the 
  insect 
  upon 
  the 
  crops 
  in 
  

   summer 
  are 
  not 
  only 
  highly 
  characteristic, 
  butln 
  their 
  consequences 
  so 
  

   conspicuous 
  that 
  a 
  mistake 
  concerning 
  the 
  insect 
  could 
  haj^pen 
  only 
  in 
  

   the 
  beginning 
  of 
  its 
  first 
  appearance 
  in 
  a 
  locality. 
  In 
  our 
  country, 
  for 
  

   instance, 
  after 
  but 
  one 
  year's 
  experience, 
  every 
  farmer 
  knows 
  the 
  

   pseudo-pux)8e 
  of 
  this 
  enemy; 
  he 
  knows 
  exactly 
  how 
  they 
  look, 
  where 
  

   they 
  occur 
  on 
  the 
  stalk, 
  and 
  so 
  forth. 
  When 
  Colonel 
  Brookins 
  put 
  

   forth 
  the 
  assertion, 
  scarcely 
  attributable 
  to 
  his 
  patriotism, 
  the 
  evil 
  

   was 
  already 
  so 
  distributed 
  in 
  America 
  that 
  the 
  "respectable, 
  observing 
  

  

  * 
  Winnertz 
  mentions 
  Cecidomyia 
  graminicola 
  in 
  his 
  monograph, 
  as 
  likewise 
  issuing 
  from 
  a 
  pupa 
  

   obtecta. 
  

   t 
  Pitch, 
  1.0. 
  

  

  