570 
DIPTERA. 
In a coinmunioation by Mr. J. W. Jeffreys, published in 
the sixth volume of Buel’s “ Cultivator,” it is stated, that 
soon after the battle of Guilford, in North Carolina, the 
wheat crops were destroyed by the Hessian fly in Orange 
County, through which the British army, composed in part 
of Hessian soldiers, had previously passed. Although it is 
possible that, in this instance, the chinch-bug may have been 
mistaken for the Hessian fly, the remark shows how preva- 
lent was the helief respecting the introduction of the latter. 
The foregoing statements, taken in connection with the 
habits of the Hessian fly, induce me to think that the com- 
mon opinion relative to its origin is deserving of some 
credit. 
The head, antennae, and thorax of this fly are black. 
The hind body is tawny, more or less widely marked with 
black on each ring, and clothed with fine grayish hairs. 
The egg-tube of the female is rose-colored. The wings are 
blackish, except at the base, where they are tawny and very 
narrow ; they are fringed with short hairs, and are rounded 
at the tip. The legs are pale red or brownish, and the 
feet are black. The body measures about one tenth of an 
inch in length, and the wings expand one quarter of an inch, 
or more. After death, the hind body contracts and becomes 
almost entirely black. 
The Hessian fly is a true Cecidomyia, differing from Lasi- 
optera in the shortness of the first joint of its feet, and in 
the greater length of its antennas, the bead-like swellings 
whereof are also more distant from each other, especially 
in the males. According to Mr. Herrick, the number of 
the joints of the antennae varies “ from fourteen to seven- 
teen, besides the basal joint, which appears double.” As 
in other species of Cecidomyia , the form of the joints differs 
according to the sex ; those of the male being globular, 
and those of the female, except at base, oblong oval. In 
both they are surrounded with whorls of short hairs. The 
difference in the antennae of the sexes has been pretty well 
