70 DIPTERA. 



galls or other deformities, or simply arrest the growth 

 of the infested part. 



The Hessian-fly, Cccidoinyia destructor Say. — Sup- 

 posed to have been brought to this country in straw 

 by the Hessian troops, hence the name. " The larvae 

 live between the leaf and main stalk, near a joint, 

 sucking the sap and weakening the plant. The pupa, 

 which is of a bright chestnut color and resembles a 

 flax seed, is formed in the larva-skin and developed 

 in the same place. The flies appear in April and May 

 and deposit their eggs in the crevices of the blades. 

 Some of the insects probably come out in autumn. 

 The larva; do much injury to wheat, barley, rye, etc." 

 Glover, 21,7. 



Kennedies. — Burn stubble immediately after harvest. 

 Sow fall wheat late. (2, 568 ; 4, VH., 133 ; i, 374). 



The Wheat-midge, Diplosis {Cecidomyia) tritici 

 Kirby. — " LarviE of a red color. This insect made its 

 first appearance in 1830, in Canada, from the emptying 

 of a straw bed by a Scotch emigrant, and spread in a 

 circle of about thirty miles in a year, at first. Eggs 

 from 2 to 12, deposited in the opening flowers of wheat, 

 etc., in June and July. These hatch, in 10 to 12 days, 

 into minute reddish, or orange colored larvae, which 

 live in the chaffy scales of barley, grass, oats, rye, 

 and wheat, feeding on the pollen and milky juices of 

 the grains, causing them to shrivel up and become 

 comparatively worthless. The pupae are found a little 

 below the surface of the earth, in a delicate filmy 

 cocoon glued to the surrounding grains of earth. (Har- 

 ris, however, states that the pupa; transform without 

 a cocoon). The following season the pupa works its 

 way to the surface of the earth, and the fly appears in 



