The Collaborative International Dictionary
Cecidomyia destructor
Hessian \Hes"sian\, a. Of or relating to Hesse, in Germany, or to the Hessians.
Hessian boots, or Hessians, boot of a kind worn in
England, in the early part of the nineteenth century,
tasseled in front.
--Thackeray.
Hessian cloth, or Hessians, a coarse hempen cloth for sacking.
Hessian crucible. See under Crucible.
Hessian fly (Zo["o]l.), a small dipterous fly or midge ( Cecidomyia destructor). Its larv[ae] live between the base of the lower leaves and the stalk of wheat, and are very destructive to young wheat; -- so called from the erroneous idea that it was brought into America by the Hessian troops, during the Revolution.