407 
solid parts. On pages 19 to 21 of his Seventh Annual Report as State 
Entomologist of Illinois, Prof. S. A. Forbes gives an interesting account 
of an undetermined species of Sciara, the larva' of which feed upon the 
interior portion of newly planted kernels of corn, and also attack the 
roots and bulbs of various kinds of flowering plants. 
Several reports of injury to growing potatoes by larvae of this kind 
have also appeared from time to time, but beyond this, and the 
instances alluded to above, no other injury to cultivated plants by 
these larva' in this country has come to our notice, although in France, 
as long ago as the year 1813, Olivier is reported to have reared three 
different species of Sciara from wheat. The writer has not been able 
to examine the original account of this rearing, but from the fact that 
none of the later authors have mentioned the names of the species 
Fig. 48. — Sciara tritici: a, larva; b, newly formed pupa, from below; c, same later., from side; d, 
adult female — greatly enlarged; e, female genitalia; /, male genitalia — still more enlarged (original). 
bred by Olivier, it is very probable that they were neither identified 
nor described in such a manner as to render their future recognition 
possible. 
Observations made several years ago at the insectary of the Depart- 
ment indicate that even in our own country the larva' of at least one 
species of Sciara are also destructive to young wheat plants. On March 
17, 1885, a large number of adults issued from a jar containing plants 
of this kind that had attained a height of from G to 8 inches. They 
already indicated an unhealthy growth by a more or less yellowish 
appearance, and an examination of their roots revealed the fact that 
these had been severe^ injured by the larva', many of which were still 
present and were observed to feed upon the roots and interior of the 
stems both below the surface of the soil as well as in the interior of the 
stems a short distance above the surface. As many as eight larva' 
were sometimes found in one of the stems, and they had also pene- 
trated the kernels of wheat from which the plants sprang; many of 
