1850. 
AMERICAN AG-RIC ULTURIST. 
QG9 
bladder about halt' an inch long, resembling the 
air-bladder in fishes, but whether serving the 
same purpose, viz.: for giving greater or less 
weight to the body, or whether used simply as a 
lung or air receptacle, I can not yet decide. 
These insects have been quite numerous in the 
vicinity of New-York City during the past two 
vears, which is rather strange, as in all works 
treating upon millers and butterflies, this is ac¬ 
counted the rarest of all, and is regarded as a spe¬ 
cial ornament to collections of insects. Though 
oflarge size and consuming an enormous amount 
of leaves, it can hardly be feared as a pest, owing 
to its being found only in limited numbers on the 
same tree. 
Wheat Insects— The “Midge”- II. 
( Continued, from page 241.) 
Having succeeded in procuring specimens of 
the Clear-winged Wheat Fly, or “ midge,” 
(Ccciilomyia Tritici) and its larva, we present en¬ 
gravings of them, as was promised last month. 
In fig. 5, p represents the female fly, largely 
magnified— r, the little insect seen at the left 
shows the exact size of the full grown fly. 
In fig. 6, t shows the form of a male fly— u, the 
larva, or worm, greatly magnified—s. a kernel of 
wheat in the chaff with several of the laivee, or 
worms, feeding. From one to a dozen or more 
of these are found on single kernels. 
These insects have long been known in Europe ; 
an account of their appearance was published in 
England as early as 1672. They have at times 
been very destructive in England and Scotland. 
They were first noticed in this country, it is said, 
about the y ear 1828 in the northern part of Ver¬ 
mont, and on the borders of Canada. From this 
region they spread in various directions over a 
large section of the country, advancing from 
twenty to thirty miles a year, and are now the 
principal destroyers of the wheat crop in the 
Eastern and Middle States, the Chinch bug being 
more common in the South and far West. In many 
sections where wheat was once the staple crop, 
its cultivation is almost wholly abandoned from 
fear of this pest. They have been greatly checked 
by the frosts of the present year, and we may 
hope nearly or quite exterminated, in some local¬ 
ities, at least. Reports encourage this expectation. 
The perfect insect is a small gnat, at first of a 
whitish color, but soon changing to an orange 
yellow. In form it somewhat resembles a mos¬ 
quito, but is considerably smaller, being only 
about one tenth of an inch long, and late in the 
season many are not more than half this size. 
It has long, slender, pale yellow legs, and two 
transparent wings, which reflect the tints of the 
rainbow, and are fringed with delicate hairs. Its 
antennae are blackish, tjrose of the females are 
about as long as the body, and those of the males 
twice this length. The eyes are black and prom¬ 
inent. The flies appear from the first of June 
to the end of August, according to the latitude, 
being later as we advance North. The forward¬ 
ness of the season also varies the time of their 
egress from the earth. 
A correspondent of the Agriculturist , Mr. Dan’l. 
Steck, who has observed them quite carefully, 
and from whose account of them we have de¬ 
rived many facts, writes that in Lycoming Co., 
Pa., Lat. 41J°, they make their appearance from 
the 1st to the 10th of June. They live, after at¬ 
taining the winged state, about twenty days. At 
the age of nine or ten days they begin to deposit 
their eggs, which they continue to do each day, 
for about an hour early in the morning, and the 
same time in the evening. The remainder of the 
time they rest upon the ground in the shade of 
the grain. Sometimes, however, they are seen 
at work upon the grain during still, cloudy 
weather. If it should be windy, rainy, or quite 
cold at the time they usually deposit their eggs, 
they are obliged to remain upon the earth, and 
hence on such days can do no mischief. This 
we are informed, was the case many days this 
season, so that grain was less injured by them 
than usual. The eggs are deposited by the fe¬ 
male upon the kernels of the wheat, by means of 
her egg tube, which she inserts in the opening 
between the valves of the corolla or chaff which 
enclose the developing kernel. As many as ten 
are often found on one kernel. In about eight 
days the larva or maggot, (u in fig. 6), is hatched 
from the egg, and commences operation upon the 
Fig. o. 
immature grain, from which it sucks the juice, of 
course preventing its full growth, and when 
enough of them are present, rendering it entirely 
worthless. 
Towards the end of July the larvae have attain¬ 
ed their full size, and are prepared to undergo the 
next change in their condition. They cease 
feeding, the body of the worm contracts within 
the skin, and it remains torpid in this state 
for a few days. It then bursts this envelope, and 
emerges from one end, leaving its shell behind. 
Its appearance is slightly altered. It is shorter 
than before, somewhat flattened, and more ob¬ 
tuse, and has an oblong greenish spot in the 
middle of the body. In two or three days after 
moulting (casting the skin), the insects fall to the 
ground, where they burrow from half an inch to 
an inch below the surface. Here they lie en¬ 
sconced until the following June, when they un¬ 
dergo their next change, that is, from larvae to 
pupae. This change is completed without casting 
their skin ; the wings and limbs of the yet im¬ 
perfect insect being unconfined, instead of close¬ 
ly enveloped, as is usual in the pupa state. The 
pupa in a few days works its way to the surface, 
casts its skin for the last time* and emerges in 
the final, complete state—the ily—ready to mul¬ 
tiply its species for further depredations. 
Various methods for destroying the insect, or 
preventing its ravages, have been tried, some ol 
them apparently with partial success. It is stated 
that quicklime, sowed thickly upon the surface of 
the field immediately after harvest, will kill the 
larva; that are about taking up their Winter 
quarters. Others have tried by deep plowing in 
the Fall, to bury them beyond hope of a resur¬ 
rection. In many sections, only Spring wheat is 
cultivated, and sown late, so that the insects will 
have disappeared before the grain is forward 
enough to allow them to deposit their eggs upon 
the kernel, and in this manner good crops are se¬ 
cured. Others have good success by sowing quick 
growing wheat very early in Autumn, so that the 
grain will be too far advanced toward maturity to 
receive injury from the larvae. It is to be hoped 
that when the habits of these insects become 
more generally known, and means are found for 
their destruction, there may be united action on 
the part of wheat growers, by which the pest may 
be thoroughly routed. 
The Currant Moth. 
Most of our readers will know at once what 
is meant by the above. Nearly all gardens have 
suffered from the larvae of this insect. They ap¬ 
pear on the leaves of the currant bush in great 
numbers about the middle of May. When first 
noticed, they are about a quarter of an inch long, 
and as large as a common knitting needle. They 
are of a light yellow, and marked with black 
spots. They grow from week to week, until by 
the middle of June they are an inch long. So 
ravenous are they that they soon strip the bushes 
of most of their foliage, which, of course, materi¬ 
ally injures the fruit, checking its growth, caus¬ 
ing it to ripen prematurely and to fall from the 
stems. When fully grown, they descend to the 
ground and burrow beneath it, and soon change 
into the pupa state. After lying in the soil a few 
days, the shell of the pupa opens, and the winged 
insect crawls forth and flies into the air, where 
it roams about gaily for a month or more. It 
is chiefly a night bird, however, keeping its bed 
by day, and flying about soon after sunset. In the 
latter part of July or the first of August, it lays 
its eggs and dies. These eggs hatch out the fol¬ 
lowing May, and the young brood renew the 
work of destruction on the currant bushes. 
Many remedies have been tried for extermi¬ 
nating this pest, but they have not been perfect¬ 
ly successful. Soot, ashes, lime, guano, tobacco- 
water—none of them are effective, at least if ap¬ 
plied when the worm has reached much size. 
Last Summer, we began- the campaign early, by 
applying whale-oil soapsuds, of twice the usual 
strength, where the worms first appeared,and then 
we added a dusting of lime. This did not entire¬ 
ly exterminate them, but it killed multitudes. 
A neighbor of ours treated them to strong 
brine, and he thought they rather liked it, as it 
killed none, and they kept on increasing in size 
and numbers. He found nothing so successful as 
hand-picking, and crushing or burning. We have 
kept them in a degree of subjection by giving 
the bushes a daily shake or two, and treading 
upon all that fell to the ground. Would that 
the robin and yellow bird might help us in this 
battle, instead of stealing our strawberries. 
