( 15 ) 
* 
t 
( 
V 
benefit of definite opinion that it was Cecidomyia de¬ 
structor, Say. Further, I have had the opportunity of 
submitting the whole series of specimens to Mr. John 
Marten, of Albion, Illinois, U.S.A., one of the economic 
entomologists of Illinois, known by his papers on in¬ 
jurious insects, published in Reports of the Department 
of Agriculture, U.S.A., and whose opinion is of much 
value, as having made a special study of the Hessian 
Fly. 
Abstract of Life-History. 
The following extract from a German source* gives 
the main points of the life-history of the fly in Europe 
in short and plain form :— 
“ Cecidomyia destructor, Say.—The larvae live in the 
haulm of wheat, rye, and barley. The female flies 
usually lay their eggs on the young leaves twice in the 
year,—in May and September,—out of which eggs the 
maggots hatch in fourteen days. These work themselves 
in between the leaf-sheath and the stem, and fix them¬ 
selves near the three lowest joints, often near the root, 
and suck the juices of the stem, so that later on the ear, 
which only produces small or few grains, falls down at 
a sharp angle. Six or eight maggots may be found 
together, which turn to pupae in spring or about the end 
of July, from which the flies develop in ten days.”— 
Stett. Ent. Zeit., xxi., p. 320. 
Where does Hessian Fly come from ? 
The question now arises, Where does the attack of 
Hessian Fly come from ? It does not appear to have 
risen up gradually in the country, as we find it widely 
spread,—that is, in various parts of Scotland, as well as 
in one district of England,—without any observation of 
its previous presence having been reported from any 
quarter, although the attack is of a kind which is very 
observable, and attention is given to insect injuries to 
the crops more or less in every part of the island. It 
* See Die Pflanzen feinde, von J. H. Kaltenbacln Stuttgart. 
