Hessian fly

Hessian fly ( Mayetiola destructor)

The Hessian fly ( Mayetiola destructor), also known as Hesse mosquito, Roggengallmücke or Getreideverwüster, belongs to the family of gall midges ( Cecidomyiidae ) and is one of the most important pests in cereal cultivation, especially in wheat, barley and rye. Unlike typical of gall midges, the larvae produce no bile, but parasitize in the stalks of grasses (cereals and wild grasses ).

Thomas Say described the Hessian fly for the first time in 1817.

Features

The Hessian fly is 2.7 to 3.7 millimeters long, jet black, abdomen, blood red between the abdomen and rings on a center line of the back and hairy reddish yellow at the probes. The wings appear gray with short hairs. The legs are very long. The much rarer male is three millimeters long, less intensely colored and reddish yellow and black hairy only on the wings.

Development

In Central Europe, the adult animals appear in late April to early May. The dark females lay two to three days about 150 to 300 brown red, roll-shaped, single 0.3 mm long from eggs or in small groups on the leaf surface of the host plant. After about five days, the larvae hatch and penetrate between culm and leaf sheath into the host plant. They secrete a salivary secretion, which dissolves the cell walls of plants and suck the juice on. The plant reacts to the suction point with yellowing, dried up or rotted. In strong winds, a fraction of the straw above the affected areas is done. After about four weeks, the larvae pupate at the suction point. End of July, the second generation of mosquitoes appear. The animals hibernate as prepupa in the stalk or in the ground. Under ideal climatic conditions (outside Europe ), up to five generations are formed in a year.

Occurrence

Originally from Europe, she was deported to the cultivation of grain to North America, New Zealand and Australia. The name " Hessian Fly" was given to the mosquito in North America. It was assumed incorrectly that they came across the Atlantic with the Hessian mercenaries straw sleeping during the fighting at the time of American independence movement ( 1775-83 ).