﻿[48] 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  COMMISSION. 
  

  

  Posen, 
  and 
  Prussia. 
  Prof. 
  Loew, 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  the 
  leading 
  dipterologist 
  

   studied 
  the 
  insect, 
  and 
  declared 
  it 
  to 
  be 
  very 
  similar 
  to 
  the 
  Hessian 
  

   fly, 
  but 
  probably 
  a 
  new 
  species 
  named 
  by 
  him 
  C. 
  secalina. 
  He 
  had 
  

   never 
  seen 
  the 
  American 
  species, 
  and 
  had 
  to 
  rely 
  on 
  Dr. 
  A. 
  Fitch's 
  de- 
  

   scription, 
  which 
  did 
  not 
  fully 
  agree 
  with 
  Q. 
  secalina. 
  In 
  1859 
  the 
  same 
  

   insect 
  was 
  very 
  obnoxious 
  to 
  the 
  rye 
  in 
  Eastern 
  Prussia, 
  and 
  was 
  studied 
  

   by 
  myself. 
  In 
  1860 
  it 
  had 
  advanced 
  westward 
  to 
  Augusburg, 
  where 
  it 
  

   was 
  studied 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Eosenhauer, 
  and 
  to 
  Fulda, 
  Hesse. 
  Everywhere 
  

   it 
  was 
  considered 
  to 
  be 
  an 
  entirely 
  new 
  pest, 
  never 
  seen 
  or 
  observed 
  

   before. 
  In 
  Hesse 
  the 
  fly 
  was 
  studied 
  by 
  Dr. 
  B. 
  Wagner, 
  and 
  his 
  mono- 
  

   graph 
  is 
  perhaps 
  the 
  most 
  satisfactory 
  existing 
  in 
  Germany, 
  though 
  it 
  

   seems 
  to 
  be 
  entirely 
  unknown 
  here. 
  The 
  fly 
  destroyed 
  in 
  Hesse 
  wheat, 
  

   rye, 
  and 
  barley. 
  I 
  am 
  not 
  able 
  to 
  say 
  whether 
  the 
  insect 
  did 
  advance 
  

   farther 
  west. 
  In 
  the 
  following 
  years 
  the 
  calamity 
  subsided, 
  and 
  was 
  

   soon 
  nearly 
  forgotten. 
  Extensive 
  destructions 
  in 
  Hungary 
  in 
  1864 
  are 
  

   reported 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Haberlandt 
  and 
  Kuenstler, 
  and 
  in 
  1879 
  in 
  Eusland. 
  I 
  

   find 
  no 
  statements 
  of 
  injury 
  done 
  by 
  the 
  fly 
  in 
  Germany 
  after 
  1860, 
  and 
  

   the 
  reports 
  for 
  Bohemia 
  for 
  1872 
  and 
  1879 
  state 
  directly 
  that 
  the 
  fly 
  

   was 
  not 
  observed. 
  Dr. 
  Schiner, 
  in 
  Vienna, 
  had 
  till 
  1864 
  seen 
  no 
  speci- 
  

   men; 
  the 
  best 
  proof 
  that 
  it 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  obnoxious 
  in 
  Austria. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Wagner 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  acknowledge 
  the 
  identity 
  of 
  G. 
  secalina 
  

   and 
  the 
  Hessian 
  fly. 
  In 
  observing 
  the 
  manner 
  of 
  life 
  and 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  

   swarming 
  of 
  the 
  fly 
  in 
  Hesse, 
  and 
  comparing 
  both 
  with 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  

   departure 
  and 
  the 
  arrival 
  of 
  the 
  Hessian 
  troops. 
  Dr. 
  Wagner 
  comes 
  to 
  

   the 
  conclusion 
  that 
  the 
  importation 
  of 
  the 
  fly 
  by 
  those 
  troops 
  is 
  strictly 
  

   impossible. 
  

  

  If 
  we 
  consider 
  the 
  positive 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  Hessian 
  

   fly 
  in 
  Europe, 
  we 
  find 
  that 
  between 
  1830 
  and 
  1840 
  it 
  occurred 
  in 
  four 
  

   localities 
  on 
  the 
  northern 
  shore 
  of 
  the 
  Mediterranean. 
  It 
  appeared 
  in 
  

   1850 
  more 
  to 
  the 
  north 
  in 
  southern 
  Eusland, 
  and 
  advanced 
  strictly 
  

   westward 
  through 
  Germany 
  till 
  1860 
  as 
  a 
  very 
  obnoxious 
  pest. 
  After 
  

   all 
  I 
  think 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  hardly 
  more 
  difficult 
  to 
  accept 
  and 
  to 
  prove 
  that 
  

   the 
  fly 
  was 
  introduced 
  by 
  the 
  energetic 
  trade 
  with 
  the 
  Mediterranean 
  

   from 
  America, 
  and 
  became 
  obnoxious 
  only 
  after 
  acclimatization, 
  as 
  to 
  ac- 
  

   cept 
  the 
  introduction 
  into 
  America 
  from 
  Europe. 
  It 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  sup- 
  

   pose 
  that 
  the 
  fly 
  had 
  been 
  overlooked 
  by 
  such 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  prominent 
  

   entomologists 
  as 
  those 
  named. 
  Dr. 
  Wagner 
  accepts 
  as 
  a 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  

   fly 
  was 
  importec^ 
  from 
  Asia 
  to 
  Europe 
  and 
  from 
  Europe 
  to 
  America. 
  

   The 
  same 
  supposition 
  was 
  made 
  long 
  ago 
  by 
  T. 
  W. 
  Harris, 
  because 
  the 
  

   fly 
  is 
  connected 
  with 
  the 
  cereal 
  grasses, 
  and 
  therefore 
  their 
  original 
  home 
  

   was 
  presumed 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  same 
  with 
  those 
  plants. 
  Against 
  this 
  conclu- 
  

   sion 
  I 
  have 
  to 
  make 
  two 
  objections. 
  First, 
  the 
  fatherland 
  of 
  these 
  plants 
  

   is 
  unknown. 
  That 
  they 
  live 
  still 
  wild 
  in 
  Persia, 
  as 
  Dr. 
  Wagner 
  sup- 
  

   poses, 
  is 
  not 
  ijroved 
  at 
  all. 
  Buflbn 
  also 
  remarks 
  that 
  our 
  cereals 
  are 
  not 
  

   known 
  to 
  grow 
  wild 
  anywhere, 
  and 
  later 
  statements 
  have 
  always 
  been 
  

   proved 
  to 
  be 
  unfounded. 
  The 
  fly 
  is 
  not 
  found 
  till 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  Orient. 
  

   Second, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  true 
  that 
  such 
  an 
  obnoxious 
  insect 
  is 
  strictly 
  limited 
  to 
  

   some 
  few 
  species 
  of 
  plants. 
  The 
  potato 
  bug 
  has 
  given 
  abundant 
  evi- 
  

   dence 
  that 
  an 
  insect 
  not 
  obnoxious 
  before 
  may 
  become 
  so 
  by 
  finding 
  a 
  

   related 
  plant 
  better 
  suited 
  to 
  its 
  taste. 
  Dr. 
  A. 
  Fitch 
  (Eep. 
  II., 
  p. 
  297) 
  

   well 
  says, 
  in 
  speaking 
  of 
  some 
  wheat 
  and 
  barley 
  flies 
  : 
  ''As 
  these 
  flies 
  

   appear 
  to 
  be 
  native 
  species, 
  it 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  before 
  wheat 
  was 
  culti- 
  

   vated 
  upon 
  this 
  continent 
  they 
  sustained 
  themselves 
  upon 
  some 
  of 
  our 
  

   wild 
  grasses. 
  Their 
  numbers 
  must 
  therefore 
  have 
  been 
  very 
  limited 
  at 
  

   that 
  period. 
  But 
  when 
  wheat 
  was 
  introduced 
  and 
  became 
  extensively 
  

   cultivated, 
  it 
  gave 
  them 
  such 
  an 
  ample 
  supply 
  of 
  most 
  jDalatable 
  nour- 
  

   ishment 
  that 
  they 
  have 
  gradually 
  increased, 
  and 
  are 
  now 
  excessively 
  

  

  