TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AND THE MIND. 
New Series. ALBANY, OCTOBER, 1851. Vol. YIII.—No. 10. 
Wheat Insects—Joint-Worm. 
Eds. Cultivator —The farmers of this comity are 
greatly concerned and dismayed at the ruin of their 
growing wheat, proceeding from an insect that bears with 
us, the above designation. It is said that it has been 
known in your state; but of this I doubt, as I have been 
a subscriber to your paper for very many years, and 
have seen no notice of it. I have read in your columns 
of the grain-worm, ( Tipula tritici,)* and think it proba¬ 
ble, as this insect is unknown to us, it may have been 
hastily confounded with this new enemy, that has but 
recently appeared among us. To dissipate all doubt on 
this head, and to appeal to your information and re¬ 
searches, I beg leave to make you acquainted with this 
most formidable depredator on the wheat crop, through 
a few samples herewith sent, of the plants so injuriously 
affected by its deposites. 
We frequently find woody fibre diseased, swollen out, 
and knotted, by the punctures of insects providing a ni¬ 
dus for their young. In the same way, this fly, emerg¬ 
ing from the chrysalis state in the dry straw, from the 
first till the middle of May, deposites through a punc¬ 
ture in the leaf or sheath of the wheat, near the joint, 
its egg or young. The parts of this succulent texture 
thus pierced, take on diseased action, become indurated, 
and firm, as you will perceive, unsightly knots. At one 
time I supposed that the deposit was made in the stem, 
or joint; but repeated examinations have satisfied me 
that the disease was confined to the enveloping husk. If 
you will carefully and gradually pare away the surface 
of these knots, you will soon come across the cells form¬ 
ed in the wheat-leaf for the nidus, and discern in them, 
with the naked eye, the maggot. This examination is 
more usually made at the time of threshing, in August, 
when these worms have attained larger size, and more 
complete life. Then you will find in these hard and rug¬ 
ged excrescences, from four to ten worms to the joint. 
It hibernates as a chrysalis, and emerges, as I have be¬ 
fore said, as a winged insect, about the early part of 
May, when it commences its fearful ravages on the wheat 
plants. Whether the worm finds a home in any other 
plant, I am unable to say; but from its rapid increase, 
our farmers are disposed to believe that it does. 
Its modes of inflicting injury are different , according to 
the growth of the plant it attacks. If the head has 
started up out of the boot, it then attacks the husk 
around the joint next below; a swelling and knot are 
* The insect here alluded to, is what is commonly known as “ the 
weevil,’' or wheat-midge, Cecidomyia tritici . Eds. 
instantly formed, creating a sort of knee, and toppling 
the head down at different angles of inclination. At 
other stages of growth, it deposites near the ground, be¬ 
fore the liead-stalk appears, and completely prevents its 
exit. In every case, it operates by a species of strangu¬ 
lation on the plant, and finally starves it out, so that the 
juices no longer circulate, and the feeble heads dry up 
and perish. In this way, a wheat-field that is thus prey¬ 
ed upon, presents the appearance of a stunted, pale, de¬ 
caying sedge, with here and there a few straggling 
heads of wheat, that, in case of their escape from the 
rust, would not reward the husbandman for the labor of 
gathering them. 
It is difficult to convey to you a faithful picture of 
the complete destruction of the wheat crop, in many in¬ 
stances, by this insect. It is vain to think of reaping at 
all in many fields. The farmer is esteemed fortunate, 
where this insect has been three years, if he makes his 
seed and bread. 
A friend of mine tells me he first saw this insect in 
some wheat grown from northern seed, and thought it 
must have come in some straw brought on with it. This 
was four years ago. Its first appearance in this county 
is usually dated not more than three years back. It ex¬ 
ists now only in one half of this county, and, as I have 
been told, in some other countiesto the north-east of us. 
The sphere of its ravages, is, therefore, restricted j but 
to our utter dismay, it seems to be gradually spreading 
abroad, at the same time that, instead of passing away 
from the scenes of its early devastation, it has actually, 
from year to year, so increased its ravages as to leave 
its early sufferers without hope for the future. 
Your subscribers in this section of the country will be, 
doubtless, gratified by any information or suggestions 
you can afford them on the subject of this strange cala¬ 
mity to their great staple—the wheat crop. 
I regret that I am not able to furnish you with a de¬ 
scription of this insect. It has been hatched out in glass 
jars, by some of my acquaintances, but they could not 
give me that definite and minute delineation of it which 
would be required by the entomologist. They speak of 
it as a dark-colored gnat, with small wings, some want 
of activity, and little power of flight. If you are dis¬ 
posed to try experiments with so dangerous an enemy, 
I would be glad if you would take the trouble of bring¬ 
ing out some of these flies by exposure to strong heat, 
before their time, and handing them over to some natu¬ 
ralist in your midst, to enlighten us about their history, 
if they have any, or give us an accurate description of 
