THE ORCHID REVIEW. 199 
THE CATTLEYA FLY. 
I HAVE sent you another growth of Cattleya labiata, on which you will see 
that after a pseudobulb had been cut two eyes came away from it, one I 
have pierced with a needle and it has decayed, the other is a well rooted 
eye with the fly inside. In my opinion cutting out is the best way of 
keeping the monster down. Of course, the plants are greatly weakened, 
and some will not show any eye after being cut too often. I keep my 
plants together very dry in pots, but the stage is well damped several times 
during the day, and I also use very little shading. You will see how fine 
the roots are. 
I see in the last issue of the Orchid Review-that “ Wellington wonders 
how the grub gets in the young bulbs. I, for myself, believe that when 
grown too soft the marrow of the eye brings the pest, as I cannot see after 
all I have had in hand how it can be any other way. I have had a good 
look out for the pest this season, and since January have not seen a 
developed fly. 
I remember that in 1882 we received Cattleya Dowiana from San Jose, 
Costa Rica, with eyes exactly the same as those you have before you, not 
having done any good. 
Frep. RoESLIN. 
Tynemouth. 
[The specimen sent shows two arrested growths about an inch long, 
from the base of an old pseudobulb with seven roots. The base of these 
growths was much swollen. One was decaying (as the result of being 
pierced with a needle), but on splitting the other longitudinally a cavity 
about a quarter-of-an-inch long was found in the centre, close to the base, 
containing three white grubs, all in the pupa stage. The shape of the fly 
was clearly defined, and the eyes, legs, &c., clearly visible under the lens, 
so that the flies might have changed to black and come out in a very short 
time. We do not yet know how long the insect remains in the pupa stage. 
Some of our pondents do not understand how the grubs get inside the 
growth, as they cannot find the opening, but, as we have already pointed 
out, the explanation is very simple. The insect is one of the gall-makers, 
and lays its eggs inside the young tissues of the plant, which it pierces with 
its ovipositor for the purpose. The opening is so minute that only a 
microscope would show the opening at the time, and the tissue, no doubt, 
heals completely in a short time. The eggs quickly hatch, and the young 
grubs feed upon the tissues for a certain time, after which they change to 
pup, and then to the perfect insect, which cuts its way out, and soon lays 
its eggs as before. The flies seen by our correspondent in January may 
have laid the eggs of the pupa now sent, and as these might have emerged 
