Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1845-05-30

! that Is tho wheat we're reaped in me ordinary
manner nearly all the available insects would be
left in The slubble: and further, the straw alleged
| to have been brought BY the Hesslans must nave
been that which ripened in The Summer OF ifo
and from which mos. OF The insects Which u co,l-
tanned would have escaped before August, 100;
On question Of such uncertainty, no one neeu
quarrel with ano,her's OPINION
The FIRST scientific description OF the Hess'an
Hy was nublished in the Journal OF the Academy
al Na,nral Sciences of Philadelphia, OF July,
1917. mos. ,45) BY the late distinguished enlo-
molooist Thomas Saw. He there gives il the
systematic name OF the eccidomna destraetor; and
to his description adds few remarks relative TO
ia habi,s and furnishes, also, an account OF ano-
Their insec, by which the fly is often destroyed
Wnbout Going into minute and tedious technl-
cal description, the following account is offered,
as probably sufficient 10 enable an observer 10
identify The nsec, in lis various TRANSFORMATIONS:
The Hessan As is wo-wineed lnseci, win
head eyes and horax, black; The head IS small
and depressed; The palp Tor NOUN ieeiers) are
three or four joinied, Inc Dasal one peinS 'he
smallest. the antennT are about hall as long as
the body and consist each of from fourteen TO Sc
yen,een oval Joints. besides the basal joint, which
annears double. the wings are large, hairy,
rounded q, The tir, and have each two or three
loro;,nd;nal nprvlres; The abdomen is OF a taw-
nv red. and furnished iTregularly, with many
black hairs-consiss OF seven rings or SeSments,
besides The ovIposi,or, which is OF Two sides, and
of rose red color The oviposilor, when extended
10 The utmost is abonl one-third as long as the
abdomen; length of body. from The front OF The
head 10 The end of the abdomen, about one-eighlh
OF an inch; The legs are long and slender pale
red. and covered sparsey with dark hair. The
male is equal in size 10 the female but generally
I'll ,l,ptl md
about lhree-fourlhS The length of The body. The
Joints of The an,enne are sobnar, and slightly
Separated from each other Several other species
of The genus cetid0mpia, or one closely allied 10
it, are common in this region. But the Hessian
fy is the largest and darkest OF our species with
which am acquainted.
The eggs are laid in the long creases or burrows
OF The upper surface of the leaves e.. C. the blade
or s,rap-shaped parry Of the young wheat plant.
While depositing her eggs, the insect stands with
her head towards the point or extremity OF The
leaf, and al various distances between The point
and where The Leaf Joins and surrounds The stalk.
The number found OH a single leaf varies from
single egg up 10 thirty, or even more. Inc egg
is about fifiieth OF an inch long, cylindrical,
rounded al The ends, glossy and translucent, Of a
pale.red color, becoming, in few hours, irregu-
iarIy spotted with deeper red. Between its exclu-
sion and its Matching, these red spots are CONT
nualv changing in number size, ami positions;
and sometimes nearly all disappear "A 1.-the
while before Matching, two lateral rows OF Opaque
white spots, about ten in number can be seen IN
each egg. In tour days, more or less, according
10 The weather. The egg is Matched; The little win
killed. maggot, or larra, creeps out of the delicate
msmbraneous egg skin, crawls down The leaf, en-
tiers the sheath and proceeds along the stalk, usu
ally as far as the next Joint below. tere II las
tens, lenglhwise, and head downWardS, 10 the len
der stalk, and lives upon the sap. II does not
gnaw the stalk, nor does il enter the central cavi-
" thereof; but, as the larva increases in size, II
gradually becomes mbedded in The substance OF
The stalk After taking It's station, the larva moves
no more, gradually loses lis reddish color and
wrinkled appearance, becomes plump and tor
pid, is at first semi-tranSlucent, and then more
and more clouded with internal white spots and,
when near maturity, the middle OF The intestinal
parts is OF a greenish color. In hve or six weeks
(varyins with the Season) the larya begins 10
turn brown, and soon becomes OF bright chest
nut color In this state, the insect bears some re-
semblance 10 flax seed; and many observers
speak OF this as the Gar-seed state. The larva has
now become chrysalis, or pnpa, and takes no
more food. The pupa within gradually cleaves
of from The outer skin, and, in The course oil two
or three weeks, is entirely detached from it, so that
the SIKH Vi Tue ldTSd lHu" uio"H dHu Ho'uSheu,
and of a sort Of leathery texture) has become
case or shell for The pupa inside.
The phpa shell Is OF course, in size and form,
like the larva il is oval bullying out beneath, and
of The same curve above As the outside OF the
stalk: divided By cross lines into twelve seq
menis, and is about an eighth OF an inch long
Within this shell The pura gradually advances
towards the winged state il contracts in length,
but mol in breadth; and lis skin appears covered
with minute elevations Just before evolution,
we find the pupa invested in delicate mem
hrane, or scarf, (Which, moi long previous, was
its outer skin, through which many parts oil The
future fly may be distinctly seen. Finally, This
scarf splits along The hotax, or back, and The in
sect comes ioIlh, both from This and The pupa
she'll a perfect two-wnSed 1y.
This is, in bret, The history Of an individual
which has been so fortunate as 10 escape all The
numerous enemies with which lis race is sur
rounded from The moment the egg is deposited;
but Of these, more hereafter.
In the Northern and Middle States, al Least,
Winter wheat is sown in September or Ocloher
Soon after the plants have appeared above ground
the Hessian iiy begins 10 lay her eggs upon lhemi
and this operation is continued during several
weeks, according TO the season. The eggs laid
on the green leaves are in few days Matched
and the yonng larv;e crawl down The stalk, and
take their stations; generally clustering around
The stalk al The nearest Joint below. Here, by
sucking of the plant, they increase in size be-
come full and hard, and, pressing deeply into the
stalk they impair its growth; and il their number
about one Joint is large, the stalk is killed. Fire.
quenlly the plant, although impoverished, advan-
ces far enough to head out; but when the grain
begins 10 fill It's own weight, or perhaps the
wind causes The stalk 10 break down. The inju-
~ done to the wheat is occasioned BY the exhaus-
ton of the sap, and By The pressure on the yield
ing STALK.
In five or six weeks the Larvae stop feeding the
outer skin turns brown, and within This brown
and leaihery case the pup9 pass the Winter-se-
nerally little below the surface OF The earth
In April and May The nv is again found deposit
ing her eggs on the same wheat wiz that from
grain sown the precedn. Autumn,) and also on
The Spring whea which has !us! come up. These
eggs hatch, and The lar,r lhcrrlrom operate in
The same manner as those ci the Autumn previ.
ous These larvtP become purl; about the middle
of June. The flies which lay their eggs in the
Spring are probably in parl from The pup;P which
BECAME such late in the preceding Autumn, and
partly from pup2 contained in stnbble LETT The
preceding Summer. The period Of the existence
Of the Hessian fy in The pupa or flax-seed stale
isexceedingly variable. After much observation
my own opinion is, that in general, purn which
become snch late in The Autumn evolve the
winged insect partly during The next Spring, and
parly in The Summer and Autumn following
Those pupa which become such about juno
evolve The winged insect partly during the nex'
Autumn and partly during the year succeeding
The Hessian Az is attacked by numerous foes
which, in various stages offs existence, destroy a
large part Of every generation. Whether it has
in lis winged stale any enemies, except the ordi
nary deslroyers Of flies, know not. The eggs
while lying on The leaves Of The young plant arc
visited BY very minute iour-winged insect, Ga
species Of platyga,ler,) which lays in them il
own eggs From later observation, it appear
that, occasionally, as many as five oil six eggs Of
this parasite are laid in single egg of The Hes
sian Nv The latter egg matches and becomes a
pupa. as usual; but from the pupa case, instead Of
The Hessian fly, issues one or more Oft these mi
mule parasites.
The pupa, while imbedded in The stalk, are al
lacked by al leas, three different minute parasites
(iour-winee hymenopiera) which, boring through
The sheath Of the stalk deposite their eggs in The