Gelechiidae 
known to be more or less injurious to vegetables, in which they 
either burrow in their larval state, or upon the foliage of which 
they prey. We can speak of only a few of them. 
Genus PHTHORIMJEA Meyrick 
(i) Phthorimaea operculella Zeller. (The Potato-moth.) 
Syn. terrella Walker; solanella Boisduval; tabacella Ragonot. 
This insect, represented in Fig. 244, the ravages of which upon 
potatoes in Algiers and other Mediterranean countries have been 
well known for many years, and which has more recently caused 
much mischief in New Zealand and Australia, has quite recently 
found lodgment in California, having been apparently accidentally 
imported from Australia. In Algiers it is known in certain years 
to have destroyed fully two thirds of the potato-crop. It is a dan¬ 
gerous and annoying pest. The best 
remedy for it is said to be the total de¬ 
struction of infected potatoes, and the 
protection of the stored tubers from 
access by the ovipositing females. 
Genus GNORIMOSCHEMA 
Busck 
(1) Gnorimoschema gallaesoh- 
daginis Riley. (The Solidago Gall- 
moth.) 
The man who has loitered by the 
waysides in the country must often 
have noticed the manner in which the 
stems of the common golden-rod are 
frequently swollen and enlarged about 
two thirds of their length from the 
root. This swelling may be caused by 
the larvae of several insects, but one 
of the most frequent causes of the ab¬ 
normal growth is the larva of a little 
moth to which the above sesquipeda¬ 
lian name has been given. The life- 
history of the insect was carefully worked out by Professor 
Riley, and from his interesting paper upon the subject, contained 
425 
Fig. 244. — Galls of the Soli¬ 
dago Gall-moth. (After Riley.) 
a, section of gall showing bur¬ 
row at d, larva at e; b , gall, 
opening at c. 
