788 
ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW YORK 
f MIDGE. LARVA. ITS FOOD. 
from the summit of the floret passes down till it comes to the 
germ or young kernel, which "is closely enveloped by the chaffs, 
whereupon entering this crevice between the chaffs and the ker¬ 
nel, it crowds onward as nearly to the very base of the kernel as 
it is able to push itself. 
Thus, on parting the chaffs, we find these larvae on the surface 
of the young kernels (Plate ii, fig. 10, d). The minute newly 
hatched larvae aredirst seen, from one to a dozen or more, crowded 
far down, usually to the very base of the kernels, which are then 
small, soft, and milky within. They lie with their heads or 
pointed ends downward and seem to be in a state of repose, sel¬ 
dom one of them moving a little as we are inspecting them. 
Mr. Kirby, as I have already noticed, conjectured it was the 
pollen of the anthers on which these larvae feed, in part at least, 
and that it was by consuming this fertilizing dust that they ren¬ 
dered the germs so shrunken and abortive. This view was 
plausible with the facts which Mr. Kirby had before him, but 
more extended observations sufficiently indicate it to be erro¬ 
neous. We have already stated how the eggs and young larvae 
happen to be sometimes found upon the anthers. Tho fly, how¬ 
ever, appears to avoid placing her eggs on these organs, as we 
should not expect her to if they contained the food of her young. 
I have repeatedly noticed that where some of the anthers hap¬ 
pened to be inclosed in vials with the flies, the latter invariably 
drop their eggs on the sides or the cork stopper of the vials and 
not on the anthers. Moreover, the flies continue to deposit their 
eggs in the wheat ears after all the anthers have withered and 
fallen from them, whereby we know the larvce from these late 
eggs can find no pollen on which to feed. Everything, in short, 
concurs to show that these larvae derive their sustenance exclu¬ 
sively from the young kernels, on the juioes of which they appear 
to be nourishing themselves from the time the flowers first begin 
to put forth until the ripening of the crop renders them dry and 
hard. 
As to the manner in which these larva} nourish themselves, I 
may remark that in this as in all the other larvae of Cecidofnyia, 
on the under side near the fore end a very short black line of 
minute size may be seen with the magnifying glass, having the 
appearance of a sliver under the skin. This line is perceived to 
be split at its anterior end, commonly, whereby it resembles a 
