JOINTWORM FLIES. 
a 
were collected in Ontario, Canada. There are specimens in the, 
Harris collection of the Boston Society of Natural History bearing 
the label Isosoma tritici that were collected in Virginia in 1852. 
There are also speci- 
mens of tritici in the 
same lot. As late as 
1892 F. M. Webster 
(13) stated that— 
He had not reared the 
depredator, and though in 
many respects the attack 
seemed to agree with that 
of Isosoma hordei, as de- 
scribed by Harris and Fitch, 
yet in many other features 
it appeared different. In 
all cases — and he had ex- 
amined hundreds of wheat 
straws from northern 
Ohio — the attack was al- 
ways above the upper joint. 
In two cases the upper joint 
and the one below had been 
attacked. From many thor- 
ough examinations he hail 
found that the stem itself 
had not been eaten into, the 
cells being formed in the 
sheath, but owing to the 
pressure of the galls on the 
tender stem the latter had 
become distorted and the 
upper portion with the head, 
where one was produced, 
was greatly aborted. 
This so accurately de- 
scribes the injury that 
no doubt is left as to the 
identity of the insect in 
question or as to the fact 
that the species was 
very widespread and 
may have been a more 
serious pest in the early 
days in Michigan and northern Ohio than H. tritici. This is 
one of the reasons why entomologists had such controversies over 
tritici in the early days. There is not the slightest doubt in the 
132861°— 19 2 
Fig. 7. — Eggs of species of Harmolita : a, H. hesperus ; 
J), II. websterij c, II. albomaculata j d, H. grandis, 
form grandis, after oviposition ; e, H. grandis, form 
grandis, just before hatching. All greatly enlarged. 
(Original.) 
