l\\t Caiiiuliaii intontaloifibt. 



Vol. XXXVII. LONDON, JULY, 1905. No. 7 



PRACTICAL AND POPULAR ENTOMOLOGY.*— No. 7. 



Granary Insects, 

 by arthur gibson, central experimental farm, ottawa. 



Every year, in the United States and Canada, thousands of dollars 

 worth of stored grain is ruined by granary insects, chiefly of three species. 

 These are all well known, and much has been written concerning their 

 habits and the methods by which they can be destroyed. Besides the 

 three very injurious species, tlie Granary Weevil, the Rice Weevil and the 

 Angoumois Grain Moth, which are responsible for most of the damage 

 done, there are a great many other kinds of insects which do serious harm 

 to stored grain and various other edible products. All of these insects 

 are spoken of popularly as " weevils," but the only true granary weevils 

 are the two mentioned above. 



The power of granary weevils to destroy grain, when held for any 

 length of time in stores or warehouses, is enormous. These insects are 

 not natives of North America, nor is it at all likely that they will ever 

 increase sufficiently in Canada, where we have such cold winters, to do 

 very serious injury. It is true they occasionally destroy samples or small 

 quantities of grain kept in heated oftices or stores, but this injury cannot 

 compare with their ravages in hot climates, particularly in India and South 

 Africa. In the Southern States they do an enormous amount of damage 

 every year, and it has been estimated of Texas alone that there is an 

 annual loss of over a million dollars. Grain infested by these insects loses 

 in weight, is useless for seed, and is unfit for consumption by human 

 beings or live stock. 



The Granary Weevil {Calandra granaria, L.). 

 This beetle, as well as the two other insects mentioned in this short 

 article, has long been known as a serious enemy to stored grain. When 

 mature, the Granary Weevil is from an eighth to a sixth of an inch in 

 length, of a dark shiny mahogany brown colour, with the head prolonged 

 into a slender snout. Some specimens are almost wholly black. Hav- 

 ing no wings beneath the hard wing-cases, it is unable to fly. The eggs 

 are laid in minute holes, which the female beetles bore into the grain with 



