Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A genus of nemocerous Diptera, or small two-winged flies, typical of the family Cecidomyiidæ, containing such as the Hessian-fly, C. destructor, noted for the ravages of its larvæ upon crops.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- proper noun (Zoöl.) A genus of small dipterous files, including several very injurious species, as the
Hessian fly . SeeHessian fly .
Etymologies
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Examples
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The belief in the essential identity of the process of alternate generation and of ordinary metamorphosis has been greatly strengthened by Wagners discovery of the larva or maggot of a fly, namely the Cecidomyia, producing asexually other larvæ, and these others, which finally are developed into mature males and females, propagating their kind in the ordinary manner by eggs.
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Certain animals belonging to several classes are now known to have the power of ordinary reproduction at an unusually early age; and we have only to accelerate parthenogenetic production by gradual steps to an earlier and earlier age, Chironomus showing us an almost exactly intermediate stage, viz., that of the pupaand we can perhaps account for the marvellous case of the Cecidomyia.
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It is the pupa, and not the larva, of the Chironomus which has this power; and Grimm further shows that this case, to a certain extent, unites that of the Cecidomyia with the parthenogenesis of the Coccidæ, the term parthenogenesis implying that the mature females of the Coccidæ are capable of producing fertile eggs without the concourse of the males.
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Within the past two decades the seed crop has been seriously injured by an insect commonly spoken of as the clover midge (_Cecidomyia leguminicola_) which preys upon the heads so that they fail to produce.
Clovers and How to Grow Them Thomas Shaw 1880
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During the Revolutionary war, the Hessian fly, Cecidomyia destructrix, made its appearance, and it was so called because it was first observed in the year when the Hessian troops were brought over, and was popularly supposed to have been accidentally imported by those unwelcome strangers.
Earth as Modified by Human Action, The~ Chapter 02 (historical) 1874
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Wheat midge (Cecidomyia tritici), which attacks the wheat in the ear, and which transforms an inch deep beneath the surface.
Our Common Insects A Popular Account of the Insects of Our Fields, Forests, Gardens and Houses 1872
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The Hessian fly (Cecidomyia destructor) has two broods, the fly appearing both in spring and autumn.
Our Common Insects A Popular Account of the Insects of Our Fields, Forests, Gardens and Houses 1872
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The barren Platygaster larva, the fertile Cecidomyia larva, the fertile Aphis larva, the fertile
Our Common Insects A Popular Account of the Insects of Our Fields, Forests, Gardens and Houses 1872
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Do you think it likely that the ancestor of Cecidomyia acquired its poison like gnats (which suck men) for no especial purpose (at least not for gall-making)?
More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 1 Charles Darwin 1845
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(Cecidomyia) [3] which deposits its eggs within the stamens of a
The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Vol. I. Charles Darwin 1845
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