Control recommendations are listed in Table 5. The Hessian fly, Mayetiola destructor , recently has become a major factor limiting wheat production throughout the southern United States. Wheat is the primary host of the Hessian fly, but it also will infest triticale, barley and rye, although rye generally is not damaged by the insect. Hessian fly does not attack oats but can develop on some grass weeds such as little barley and wild ryegrasses. Adult hessian flies are small black flies about the size of a mosquito.
Adults live for about two days, during which time they mate.
Females lay about 200 eggs in the grooves of the upperside of wheat leaves. Newly hatched larvae move down the leaf groove beyond the leaf sheath to the stem where they begin to feed on the leaf base. Maggots become white after the first molt and appear greenish-white when fully grown. The entire life cycle requires about 35 days at 70 F. Newly hatched larvae are exposed on the leaf surface and are susceptible to adverse disease and weather conditions, but once larvae move to the stem base they are protected from exposure. Maggots suck sap and stunt tillers, presumably by injecting a toxin into the plant.