Cabbage-fly

Cabbage-fly (Anthomyia brassicae), a dipterous insect in the same family as the house-fly, flesh-fly, &c., and belonging to a very large genus with about 480 European species, many of which are in their larval state very injurious to vegetables. The adult insect is about a quarter of an inch in length, and has a general ashy-gray colour, somewhat different in the two sexes. The maggots are found in summer on the roots and lower stems of cabbages and similar plants. The pupæ are rusty red in colour, and the last generation lie in the ground throughout winter. The entire development occupies about eight weeks, and there are several successive generations between June and October. The best prevention is probably rotation of crops; the earth round the roots of the cabbages should be drawn away to destroy the pupæ; watering with lime-water will kill the maggots.