132 
Observations on the various Insects 
alive : they had not at all suffered, for at the end of March a 
great many were transformed into pupae, and many had hatched 
the beginning of April.* 
" The insect," says M. Dugaigneau, " after pairing, pierces the 
stalk of the rye, below the first knot, to deposit an egg in its inte- 
rior, which hatches so much the earlier, being warmed by the 
sun's rays concentrated close to the earth, amongst all the straw of 
the rye : the little larvae live upon the interior of the straw, which 
is then very tender, and upon the nutritive juices of the sap, which 
ought to form the grains in the ear ; it soon acquires sufficient 
power to be able to perforate the knot in the straw ; it then passes 
through and ascends to a greater or lesser height in the interior; 
I have found a few which had surmounted all the knots ; the 
larva afterwards descends, and arrives at the base of the straw 
when it has attained its full growth ; it then cuts down the straw 
level with the ground, before and even at the moment the grain is 
matured : it sometimes happens that it is not entirely sawed 
through at harvest time." f 
It then descends into the stump of the rye, a little below the 
soil, where it closes its tunnel with a stopper of sawdust and excre- 
ment ; it then encloses itself with a transparent covering, a great 
deal larger than itself, in which it rests eight months (fig. 3). 
M. Dugaigneau has observed this larva also in the wheat-straw, 
but it is rai-e there. 
M. Herpin, who has likewise investigated the subject, says,| " If 
you traverse a field of wheat or rye, a week or fortnight before 
harvest, you may observe a greater or less considerable number of 
stems, the straight and whitened ears of which elevate themselves 
above the others, and appear to have attained their perfect matu- 
rity. They form a striking contrast with the neighbouring plants, 
which are still very green, and the heavy ears filled with grains are 
inflexed and bent towards the earth, whilst the others are entirely 
empty, or contain only a very small number of grains, which are 
for the most part shrunk and horny. 
" On carefully opening or splitting longitudinally the stubble 
or the stalk bearing the erect and bleached ears, of which I have 
just spoken, you will remark, first, that it contains a yellowish 
powdery detritus, formed by the debris of the plant which has been 
eaten internally ; secondly, that the knots of the straw are per- 
forated in the interior of the pipe of the stalk ; thirdly, that one 
finds a little above one of the knots a larva occupied in eating the 
medullary partition of the plant. 
• Notice sur quelques Insectes nuisibles au froment, &c., p. 34. 
+ Annales d'Oileans. 
I Memoire sur divers Insectes nuisibles h rAgricuUuve, par J. Cii. 
Herpin. 
