Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 143, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 June 1911 — State Entomologist Finds Fly Maggot in Wheat Samples. [ARTICLE]

State Entomologist Finds Fly Maggot in Wheat Samples.

Indianapolis Star. B. W. Douglass, state entomologist, has received ■* number of specimens of wheat from one of the northern counties of the state, with the complaint that the heads of grain were not property filling out On examination the samples are found to be in tested with the larvae of the wheat stem maggot Meromyza Americana). This is a small fly, the larvae of which attack the stems of various grasses and sometimes is injurious to the wheat. The plants that are attacked appear to be perfectly normal, but the heads turn white, and the grain fails to fill out The insect has three broods each year and the brood that comes in the fall may be confused with the Injury caused by ths Hessian fly, The wheat stem maggot is > difficult pest to control, Mr. Douglass said, owing to the fact that it does not confine its injury to one species of plant, but may Injure many different kinds of wild grasses. This attack on wild grasses serves to provide plenty of the insects to attack the cultivated crops. The best means of preventing in jury is to plant the wheat as late In the fall as possible. In this .way the flies are forced to lay their eggs on the native grass, and the wheat is uninjured, the entomologist holds. It is also a good practice to plant what is termed a trap crop. In this case this would consist of a few rows of Wheat planted early. After the eggs of the fly were laid in this strip of wheat, the wheat would be destroyed either by burning or by plowing, under. The insect is a native of America, and is controlled by the action of a number of parasites, so a year of serious infestation is usually followed by comparative freedom from attack.