16 
also early in March, in a field in which wheat was grown the pre- 
ceding year, that had been somewhat injured by the fly. Another 
portion of these larvee remain in the heads of the wheat, and are 
carried into the barn, where they may readily be observed upon the 
threshing-floor, and found in quantities among the screenings of the 
fanning-mill; a considerable portion of which sometimes consists of 
these worms. Thence our farmers kindly empty them out at the 
door of the barn, where most of them doubtless find among the 
litter of the yard a bed equally as comfortable and secure as that 
in which their brethren in the field are at this time reposing. 
Whence does this singular diversity in the habits of these larve 
arise? Why do one part of them leave the wheat, and enter the 
ground ere the harvest ; and another portion remain within the ears, 
to be carried into the barn when the grain is housed? for all the 
worms are undoubtedly fully matured before the grain becomes ripe 
and hard. T'wo well attested observations I think shed much light 
upon this subject; and if the inference that they have led me to be 
correct, this point will be regarded as one of the most interesting 
that occurs in the economy of this insect. Mr. Harris informs us, 
that “after a shower of rain, they (the larve) have been seen in 
such countless numbers on the beards of the wheat, as to give a 
yellow color to the whole field;” and he refers to the New-England 
Farmer, vol. xii. p. 60, in confirmation of this statement, a volume 
which I have not at hand. For an analogous but still more instructive 
fact, I am indebted to Gen. M‘Naughton, a practical farmer of this 
town, the accuracy of whose statements no one acquainted with him 
will doubt. In 1832, his wheat, in which the fly had made sad havoc, 
was cradled and lying in the swath, when a moderate rain came on, 
followed by a damp cloudy afternoon. At this time, with his hired 
help, he repaired to the harvest-field to bind up the grain. They 
here found not only the heads, but also the straw in its entire length 
sprinkled over with these worms. On my observing to him, that I 
could scarcely believe it possible for a footless worm to crawl along 
the straw when it was lying horizontally, he stated that he was 
particularly positive with regard to that fact; for he distinctly re- 
collected that it was impossible for him to draw the band around a 
bundle and tie it (in which process the heads of the grain are not 
touched), without having at least a half dozen of these worms 
adhering to his hands. 
