14 
CORN. 
“Flax-seeds,” Chrysalis-cases, or Puparia. 
These were from one up to sometimes three or four in number, 
usually only one or two; they were invariably set upright (not length¬ 
wise across the stem), and sometimes, but not always, were fixed at 
the lower end by being a little embedded in the straw. The ‘‘ flax¬ 
seeds ” were for the most part the sixth of an inch long, of a spindle 
or long oval shape, somewhat slightly flattened on one side, and more 
so on the other ; the two extremities bluntly pointed, one conical, the 
other, which is the anterior end, usually slightly bent forward with a 
pinch across the flax-seed ” near the end, as if the flattened side had 
been bent in almost against the other side by a nail. The colour was 
at first of various shades of chestnut, from quite 
light to full brown, and both in colour and in 
shape the cases had a strong resemblance to the 
flax-seeds from which they take their name, 
except in being narrower. This brown case is 
the hardened skin of the maggot, and in this 
piiparium, or pupa-case, the maggot changes first 
to the 2 Mpa and thence to the perfect fly ; at the 
earliest part of the observation the transverse 
lines showing the divisions of the segments of 
the maggot were still noticeable, but gradually, as the skin hardened, 
it contracted lengthwise, and the transverse lines wholly or almost 
entirely disappeared, and instead of these the flax-seed was marked 
with parallel lines. The first specimen in which I noticed these 
running along it from one end to the other was sent me from Ware on 
the 28th of August. The figure is taken from two of my own speci¬ 
mens in different stages of development at the beginning of October. 
E 0 
No.2.—“ Flax-seeds ” 
or Puparia, in different 
stages of development, 
nat. size and mag. 
Contents of the “Flax-seed,” Chrysalis-case, or Pnparium. 
As the attack had passed into the flax-seed state before it was 
reported, I had no opportunity of observing the maggot whilst it was 
still active and in feeding condition ; therefore, in order to keep the 
British observations clearly distinct from those of other countries, the 
description and figure of the maggot taken from Dr. Packard’s paper 
on the Hessian Fly is appended in a note.* I had, however, the 
opportunity, by careful dissection of a newly-formed “flax-seed,” of 
making out some of the points of the structure of the larva. On 
opening the brown case I found the legless maggot within still un¬ 
changed as to development; it was bluntly oval, with the head 
* “ The egg is very minute, about the fiftieth of an inch long, cylindrical, 
pointed at each end, the shell shining and transparent, the egg being of a pale red 
colour when the embryo is nearly developed. 
