i8 94 .] 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



181 



leaf to the stem, where it gradually buries itself. These maggots are 

 short, stout, cylindrical, soft-bodied creatures, transparent at first, but 

 in their later stages assuming an opaque and sometimes reddish appear- 

 ance. These larvae, which have 14- jointed bodies, are nearly always 

 found above the second node of the straw, buried in the living tissues. 

 As many as ten were found in a single straw last year in S. Devon, but 

 the usual number is one or two to four. I found the larvae as late as 

 September on " couch " grass near Teignmouth. The terrible havoc 

 which these grubs do will be described later on. The maggot life may be 

 divided into three stages : (1) The " Feeding Stage," in which rapid 

 growth, resulting from constant feeding, takes place ; it is chiefly now 

 that the damage is done by weakening the stem and causing it to fall 

 or lay, as if weather-beaten. The second stage (2) is known as the 

 " Flax-seed Stage," on account of the resemblance of the larva to a 

 flax-seed. The " flax-seed" is brown, generally a deep chestnut-brown, 

 and marked with longitudinal striae and also with transverse marks, 

 the same as the segments of the true maggot. This brown " flax-seed " 

 is simply a case or puparium formed of the old maggot skin, within it we 

 find the true maggot. Now, the larva in this second stage has a most 

 remarkable structure beneath it, known as the " Anchor Process," 

 which it uses as a kind of lever to turn itself round in the brown case 

 or puparium. As soon as the maggot has reversed its position it bursts 

 through the puparium and enters its third stage, in which the larva is 

 free for a short time ; it soon casts its skin and becomes a true pupa or 

 chrysalis, with its head upwards, so that the fly can escape readily when 

 hatched. The pupae are at first white, then pink, and at last brown. 

 The curious " anchor process" is replaced by a horny beak, which 

 forces open a hole for the fly to emerge. The fly escapes on the 

 twelfth or thirteenth day, but may remain in the pupal state for as 

 much as twelve months. 



The distribution of this minute fly is very wide. In America it is 

 found from the Atlantic to Kansas, and from the Gulf of Mexico to the 

 St. Lawrence, and each year its distribution increases. It was known 

 in America in 1776, and is supposed to have been taken over there 

 in the corn carried by the Hessian troops. 



In Europe it is a widespread pest, and was apparently first detected 

 in Minorca, in 1834. In 1880 it was recorded in Russia, where it does 

 an immense amount of damage. Germany, France, Italy, Austria- 

 Hungary, and Sweden are also some of its favourite abodes. In our 

 own country it is known to have a wide distribution, but is particularly 

 abundant along the East Coast. It, I fancy, has not been recorded 

 before last year in this county, but in some old notes I have I find 

 reference to the " flax-seed " puparia I found in '87 at Sidmouth. 



The damage which they commit abroad is often disastrous, whole 



