240 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
No. 151 
i..• - 
Wheat Insects. 
Few persons have the faintest conception of 
the immense amount of destruction produced by 
two or three species of minute insects—insects 
so small that they almost entirely escape the at¬ 
tention of ordinary observers, save in the effects 
produced by them. We know a single county 
where only a dozen years ago wheat was the sta¬ 
ple crop. Every farmer sowed wheat upon near¬ 
ly half of his tillable acres. At the principal 
county town were a dozen agencies for eastern 
millers and dealers. We have at one time 
counted more than a hundred loads of wheat 
coming into town from the neighboring country. 
Now there are scarcely two hundred fields of 
wheat in the entire county, and as for a load of 
wheat in the former great wheat market, it is so 
rare an object as to be a curiosity. This change 
has resulted entirely from the ravages of a little 
insect not larger than a pin-head in size. What 
we have described in one county has occurred 
in a multitude of others over a large portion of 
our country. And as yet no effective remedy has 
been discovered. 
We propose to give here a description of some 
of the more common wheat insects, with illus¬ 
trations prepared by a competent artist expressly 
for this article. We hope our readers living in 
wheat growing regions will study this subject, 
and preserve the engravings and descriptions un¬ 
til another year, and then each one examine 
the fields in season, as a matter of interest, and 
also .be ready to assist us in making further in¬ 
vestigations. We have received several respon¬ 
ses to our request last month, hut the general 
tenor of them all is, that the insects are not so 
common this year as formerly, and with two ex¬ 
ceptions our correspondents have been unable, 
after diligent search, to find specimens of the. 
midge oi worm. No one has succeeded in secur¬ 
ing a specimen of the parent fly. 
There is confusion in the terms used in de- 
seribing the insects destructive to wheat. The 
common term for all kinds is the “ weevil ,” the 
name of an insect comparatively rare in this 
country. The following will help to the proper 
use of terms. 
a 
Fig. 1 . —CHINCH BUG. 
Chinch Bug (Micropus leucoplerus). —Fig. 1, 
shows this insect; a is the insect largely magni¬ 
fied to show the different parts more plainly ; b 
is engraved to the exact natural size of the full 
grown bug. In its perfect state it has a black, 
downy body about one-sixth of an inch long. This 
insect is very readily distinguished by its white 
wing-covers, upon each of which are faint black 
lines, and a large oval black spot upon the mar¬ 
gin. The name Micropus leucopterus was given 
by Dr. Harris ; it was previously called Lygceus 
leucoplerus. It belongs to the order of Hemipte- 
ra, which includes the common “ bed-bug,” and 
others of like disagreeable odor. The chinch 
bug emits a disgusting odor very like that of the 
common bed-bug. 
The chinch bug does not gnaw plants but sub¬ 
sists upon their juices, which it sucks out through 
its slender, sharp, needle-like beak. It thus liter¬ 
ally bleeds the plants to death. It seems to pre¬ 
fer wheat, but will thrive upon the juices of most 
Fig. 2.—GRAIN WEEVIL 
other plants, and net unfrequently destroy crops 
of oats, corn, and grass. The eggs are deposited 
in the ground in Autumn and in the Spring the 
insects come forth, of a red color, at first, but grad¬ 
ually change to brown and then to black. They first 
attack wheat, and when this is gone they go to 
the nearest field of oats or corn, and travel from 
field to field in immense armies like locusts, de¬ 
stroying every green thing in their line of march. 
In the South and South Middle States they come 
forth in May ; in the Middle and Western States 
they are first seen in June. They have been 
found in New-York and Southern New-England, 
but not in sufficient number, as yet, to do exten¬ 
sive injury. We have heard most of them, in 
North Carolina, Virginia, and Southern Illinois. 
They appear to multiply rapidly in a warm dry 
season, and to he greatly checked in a w r et one. 
They can use their wings for locomotion, but sel¬ 
dom fly more than three or four feet at a time. 
They usually travel “on foot.” No means for 
their entire destruction have been discovered. 
Their number and ravages can be lessened by 
burning up the grain or grass upon a field upon 
which they have gathered. Where their course 
of march is observed they may be checked by 
spreading out a layer of dry straw across their 
path, which extends from a few rods to miles in 
width sometimes, and when the straw is covered 
with them, setting it on fire. 
Grain Weevil {Calandra granaria ).—In fig. 2, 
c is a magnified representation of this insect 
which is the true grain-weevil, or wheat-weevil, 
of Europe. Though the term “weevil” is com¬ 
monly applied to wheat insects, the true weevil is 
little known in this country. There is a some¬ 
what similar, but smaller insect at the South, 
called the black weevil (Calandra Oryza) which 
preys chiefly upon rice, and hence is often called 
the rice-weevil. This latter insect frequently at¬ 
tacks corn and wheat as well as rice. The grain- 
weevil, in its perfected state, is a slender beetle of 
dark red color, and about one-eighth of an inch 
long. It has a small long proboscis or snout, 
curving a little downward. The thorax or chest, 
constitutes about one-half of its body and is punc¬ 
tured with holes which give it a rough appear¬ 
ance. The abdomen is covered with delicate 
wings, over which are wing-covers reaching not 
quite to the extremity of the abdomen. In fig. 2, 
d shows a magnified antenna or feeler; e, a 
magnified nymph the natural length of which is 
indicated by the line at the left; / the insect 
in a wheat kernel; and g the grub itself, its-, nat¬ 
ural length also shown by a line at the left. 
The true grain weevil attacks only the ripe or 
nearly ripened grain—usually however, after it is 
gathered. Th e female punctures a kernel with her 
beak or rostrum and then deposites an egg—some¬ 
times two—and then goes to another, treating it 
in the same way. From these eggs are hatched 
the grubs or worms which burrow in the grain 
kernels and eat out the substance, closing up the 
aperture behind them so that their presence is 
not always discovered until the injury is com¬ 
pleted. Kiln drying is often resorted to, and is 
effectual in destroying the insect if attended to in 
season. The grub grows to about the twelfth of 
an inch in length; its body is white and soft, and 
has nine rings around it as seen at g, fig. 2. Its 
head is small, round, and supplied with cutting in¬ 
struments. It arrives at maturity about the time 
it has consumed the flour portion of the kernel; 
then changes to a chrysalis state (like that be¬ 
tween the worm and the butterfly), and soon after 
changes to the perfectly formed weevil which eats 
its way out of the shell and goes forth to deposit 
its eggs in turn upon other kernels. The perfect 
insect as well as the grub feeds upon the grain. 
They multiply rapidly, each successive race lay¬ 
ing numerous eggs. A single pair is said to 
sometimes multiply to six thousand in a single 
season. They are not very destructive to grain 
kept cool, well ventilated, and frequently moved 
Fig. 3.— HESSIAN FLV. 
The Hessian Fly (Cccidomyia destructor). —In 
fig. 3, h represents the insect magnified ; i is the 
exact size of the full grown fly ; j is the dorsal, 
or back view of the worm as found in the wheat 
stalk ; k the ventral or front view of the same ; 
l a dorsal or back view of the dormant larva. 
In fig. 4, m is front view of the pupa ; n a wheat 
stalk infested with the worm ; and o a wheat 
stalk with the leaf broken away to show the young 
worm at the joint. The Hessian Fly was so 
named, because introduced, or supposed to have 
been introduced, by the Hessian soldiers employ¬ 
ed by the British during the Revolutionary war 
(1776). It was first discovered in the vicinity of 
New-York, from which point it extended in all di¬ 
rections, its usual rate of advance being from 15 
to 25 miles a year. The full grown Hessian Fly (i, 
fig. 3) is nearly the size of a small mosquito, 
which it resembles in general form. It has, how¬ 
ever, no bill for sucking blood, and has propor¬ 
tionally a larger thorax or chest, and a smaller 
