267 
No. 105.] 
16th of June I was informed by a neighbor, that it had been present 
for some days in large numbers, in a field of thrifty winter wheat of 
his. Upon repairing to this field, a small black fly, about one-third of 
the size and much resembling the common house-fly, was pointed out 
as the dreaded enemy; and so universally has this doubtless harmless 
species been for years regarded as the true wheat fly by the farmers 
throughout this whole section of the “ infected district,” merely from 
the circumstance of its occurring abundantly in wheat fields simultane¬ 
ously with the wheat-worm, that my companion was much surprised, 
and disposed to be incredulous of my assertion that that was not the 
wheat-fiy. On opening the flowers of wheat, however, the eggs of 
the real marauder were found in abundance; and a sweeping, with the 
small gauze fly-net in common use by entomologists, between the stalks 
of grain towards their roots, immediately caught within it a number 
of the winged insects. My comrade was little less surprised on my 
pointing the real fly out to him, being scarcely able to conceive that 
such a tiny fragile atom, seemingly a mere moat floating before his eye, 
could be that potent enemy that had spread such desolation over our 
land. Several of the specimens thus caught, were of the spotted¬ 
winged species. These I conjectured, until I afterwards came to 
examine them attentively with the microscope, were only a variety of 
the common or clear-winged species, else I should not have failed to 
have regarded them more particularly. 
All parts of this field of four acres were found to be infested more 
or less with the wheat-fly, but they occurred most abundantly along 
one of its sides, in the field adjoining which, wheat had been grown 
the preceding year, which had been considerably injured by this 
insect. Such a host of destroyers as were here found, and the profusion 
of eggs that had been already deposited, strongly indicated that it 
must have commenced appearing in its winged state many days previous 
to this time. 
The wheat-fly may be met with daily, from the fore part of June, 
until so late at least as the middle of August. Although it congregates 
in swarms about fields of wheat at the time they are in blossom, it also 
occurs in a great variety of other sitnations. It often enters houses, 
upon the windows of which it may be observed dancing along the 
panes, sometimes in numbers. It may also be taken among the grass 
of pastures, and of alluvial meadows that have never been turned up 
