Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 September 1875 — Insects Injurious to Wheat. [ARTICLE]

Insects Injurious to Wheat.

Insects injurious to wheat are more or less numerous in all parts of the country. ‘Unfortunately, however, the greater portion of these pests are of small size; and therefore readily escape notice until their numbers have increased to such an extent as to cause serious losses to the farmer or dealers in this grain. * Some kinds confine their ravages to the wheat plant while it is quite small, as, for instance, the Hessian fly (Ceridomyia deetnictor), which deposits its eggs in the ’’wheat plant during the autumn, while another brood of the same attacks it again >in the spring, the grubs boring into the center of the stalk and causing it to wither and die. This terrible pest of our wheatfields was first observed on Staten Island in 1776, and from this point it appears to have spread over the country, sometimes increasing to such an extent as to compel farmers to abandon wheat culture entirely for a number of years in succession, and over a wide range of territory, then again disappearing, probably through the agency of parasitic enemies. It is only a few years since the great regions of Central New York were devastated by this insect, and it will doubtless appear again in the same localities, so tha/the fanner must be on the alert

Another species of the same genus, known as the “ wheat midge" (Cecidomyia trit id), is also quite common in many localities, and we have before us two heads of wheat, received from Mr. W. C. Littleton, of Tippecanoe County, Ind., which contain the pupa of this pest. The habit of this last-named species is quite different from the former, the female depositing her eggs in the heads of wheat while it is in blossom. The eggs hatch in eight to ten days, the maggots feeding upon the pollen, also sucking the juices of the young, soft kernels and causing them to shrivel. After reaching maturity the grubs descend to the ground, forming minute, thin cocoons within which titey pass the winter, appearing again in time to attack the wheat when m bloom. These cecidomyias are very small, two-winged flies, but they have natural enemies in still more minute species of four-winged flies belonging to the genus Platygastes. Were it not for the latter we fear our farmers w-ould soon have to abandon wheat-culture altogether; but as the midge increases its natural enemy also has an opportunity of multiplying; occasionally, however, the wheat-destroyers appear to get the advantage for a few years at least, but their enemies soon become strong enough in numbers to overpower and destroy them. There is still another insect which is sometimes very injurious to growing wheat. It is generally referred to as the “ joint-worm,’’ from the appearance of the maggots in or near the joints on the stems of the wheat. When abundant, great numbers of the wheat-stalks die and break down soon after the heads appear. The name of the species which attack wheat is Eurotyma hordei— Harris. Another species attacks rye in a similar manner; another barley; and, as the pupae of all of them remain in the dry straw during winter, the best method of checking their ravages is to burn over tlie stubble in the fall and see that all the straw from which the grain is threshed is either fed out to. stock or rotted down in the barn-yard before warm weather in tlie following spring. After wheat is threshed and put away in the bins it is.not safe from tlie attacks of insects. Perhaps the most common and destructive kind in this country is the red grain weevil (Sitophilus granarius). It is a small beetle of a pitchy red color, and attacks wheat after it is stored, eating out the inside of the kernel; hence it is not easily detected except by handling the grain or submitting it to a slight pressure, the shell readily breaking when This weevil is sometimes exceedingly numerous about old barns in the Middle States, and considerable care is necessary to preserve seed-wheat in good condition for sowing. Infested barns should be well cleansed every season before new grain is putin, even to fumigating with burning sulphur, as well as dusting the cracks about the bins with the same substance. A closely allied species of weevil, attacks rice as well as wheat in tlte Southern States. It differs from the former in having two large red spots on each elytrop, and is of a dark brown or black color. It is generally known as the “ black weevil.” There are other species of weevil which infest wheat, besides numerous moths and flies, and it would be well for our farmers to pay more attention to these pests and not only learn how to recognize the different species, but learn what is known of their habits, and how best to destroy them. The longer such things are neglected the more abundant they are likely to become, and it is quite frequently the case that a few dollars investedin entomological works, and a few 7 evenings spent in reading them, would save a farmer hundreds of dollars annually.— N. I’. Sun. .