63 
lays its eggs for another generation and soon perishes. The worms 
from these eggs nestle at the lower joints of the stalks, weakening 
them and causing them to bend and fall down from the weight of 
the head, so that towards harvest, an infested field looks as though 
cattle had passed through it. 
Wheat can scarcely be grown except upon a fertile soil in those 
districts where this insect is abundant. The sowing should be 
deferred until about the last of September, the season then being 
past when the fly usually deposits its eggs. If at any time in au- 
tumn the eggs of the insect are observed to be profusely deposited 
upon the leaves, the crop should be speedily grazed down by sheep 
and other stock, or if this cannot be done, a heavy roller should 
be pass d over it, that as many of the eggs as possible may be 
crushed or dislodged thereby. One or the other of the same mea- 
sures should also be resorted to in the spring, if the same contin- 
gency occurs; or if the worms are at a later date discovered to be 
numerous at the first and second joints of the young stalks, the 
experiment may be tried of mowing as close down as possible, the 
most infested portion of the field. Where the soil is of but me- 
dium fertility, a resort to some of the hardier varieties of wheat, 
which are known to be in a measure fly proof, may be advisable. 
Fitch’s Point, Salem, N. Y., Nov., 1846. 
Note.—Since our preceding essay, upon the Cecidomyia tritici was publish- 
ed, having had an opportunity of perusing the original articles of Mr. Kirby 
upon that species, we find that he both figures and describes the joints of its 
antenne as “medio constrictio.” It is singular that this most important dis- 
tinctive mark has been so misstated in the descriptions of that species which 
have been republished upon this side of the Atlantic, and also in Turton’s 
editi n of the System of Nature. From the remarks introductory to our 
“ Description” some might perhaps infer that this error arose with the found- 
er of the species. We hasten, therefore, to obviate any such impression. 
