Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1908-10-13

10 Quell pidSue vi the MESSIAH uy
which has been doing great damage
to wheat in Southern Kansas and
Northern Oklahoma, the government
sent to that region large consignments
astrous insect, which will be distribute
ed over the Infected areas
The gnat, a very minute species, is
the principal enemy of the fly, which,
but for its interference, would prac-
ttcally anfhflate the wheat-growfng in
dustry in this country. 1t is known
to science as Polygnotus, and operates
In very peculiar fashion, laying its
eggs in the eggs of the hessian fly be-
fore the latter are hatcned. This does
not prevent the maggot-Iike larvae Of the
pest from Matching out, and their de-
structive capacity-they suck the sap
Of the young wheat plants-is not
diminished. But they do not trans
form into flies. Instead, gnats emerge
from their bodies, to repeat the per
Torrance and continue the business Of
fy destruction.
A New Police System.
The distribution of gnats for the pro-
lection Of the wheat crop is in line
with new plan of operation by which
friendly bugs are to be Systematically
utilized for policing the cultivated
areas of the country, to regulate the
rogue insects. This plan, it might be
said, was long ago adopted by nature
herself. All that the government is
trying to do is to offer intelligent as
sfstance, the idea in view being to aid
the farmers by keeping the whole Unit
ed States under surveillance. When 1t
Is found that any destructive pest is
rapidly increasing in certain section,
1t may often be practicable to fight it,
or perhaps to ward off a serious out
break, by the transportation of insect
enemies from some other region to the
scene of the trouble.
Friendly Bugs absolutely Necessary
The question is not how much the
farmer could raise without the protec-
ton of friendly insects, but whether
he could raise anything at all. He
does not realize that these tiny helpers
Is not merely when serious outbreaks
threaten that they are useful, but con-
tinually To put the matter in other
words, the agriculturist t. deriving a
steady and constant profit from one of
natures most powerful forces, that of
parasitism-a force that has probably
been more largely instrumental In
shaping the status of animal life over
the face of the globe than we can, with
orr present limited knowledge, conf
prehend.
This is the force which the Bureau
Of Insects Is trying to utilize, in some
instances by transporting friendly bugs
from one place to another In or
der to give them an opportunity to do
their work where it is most wanted.
There seems to be good reason for be-
lieving that certain parasitic flies may
be utilized for fighting grasshoppers,
which even at the present time are a
very destructive pest in parts Of the
West The cultivation Of the soil has
to a great extent destroyed the great
grasshopper- breeding areas which-the
eggs of these Insects being laid In the
ground-formerly supplied such innu-
merable swarms, totally devastating
whole districts. But plaques Of them
still occur at intervals.
The flies in question-one species Is
called appropriately enough, Sarco-
phaga-lay their eggs in the bodies Of
the grasshoppers. Once Matched, the
grubs do the rest. Under date Of July
10, 1907, a correspondent Of the In
sect Bureau, writing from Coulee City,
In the State of Washington, reported
that grasshoppers in that neighborhood
were dying by millions, and that in the
| body of each was a worm" doubtless
| the maggot of one of these little flies
Natures Balance.
Nature is trying all the time to pre-
serve a balance, and thus under ordi-
nary circumstances there are for every
kind Of insect of possible pestiferous-
ness a sufficient number Of enemies to
keep 1t In check. For instance. the
wheat nudge, or red weevil," as it is
more popularity called, committed
| frightful depredations during the years
| from 1880 TO 1855. But finally things
adjusted themselves so that proper
cheeks were established, and at the
present time, though the nudge often
becomes so abundant as to threaten Sc
rious injury TO the crop, 1t never quite
reaches that point. The reason is sim
ply that its enemies keep it down. IT
those enemies were swept out of ex-
tstence, even temporarily, its ravages
would be on a disastrous scale