No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 393 



Treatment. 



Treatment for this pest is not usually possible by means of 

 poisons though in some cases their numbers might be reduced by 

 such methods. 



Probably the best way in which to control wire worms is by late 

 fall plowing, repeated for two or three years. This destroys the 

 wire worms by bringing them up to the surface of the ground where 

 exposed to the freezing and thawing of the winter, many will perish 

 or be devoured. Breaking the cells above described appears to cause 

 the death of the insects which occupy them, and thus fall plowing 

 is useful for the destruction of this stage as well. Rotation of crops 

 is unfavorable to the increase of wire worms and should also be prac- 

 ticed for this reason if for no other. 



THE ANGOUMOIS GRAIN MOTH. 



(Sitotroga cerealella Oliv.) 



This insect is an important enemy to wheat and corn in Pennsyl- 

 vania, often causing much loss, particularly when appearing dur- 

 ing the fall after the attacks of the Hessian Fly have greatly reduced 

 the amount of wheat produced. 



The Angoumois grain moth has been present in this country for 

 many years, being most injurious in the south where the longer sea- 

 sons permits a greater number of broods than is possible in northern 

 latitudes. In Europe it is also a pest and takes its name from a 

 province of France where it has caused much loss. 



Life History. 



The moth of this insect is very small, about the size of the clothes 

 moth, and yellowish in color. It appears in the spring, usually dur- 

 ing May and June, and lays from sixty to ninety eggs. These are 

 laid separately and if on wheat, are j^laced in the furrow on the side 

 of the kernel itself, one on each grain. The little caterpillar which 

 hatches from the egg bores into the grain and feeds upon its con- 

 tents until it is full grown, this process requiring about three weeks. 

 At the end of this time the caterpillar is about one-fifth of an inch 

 long and little of the grain is left except an outside shell. The cater- 

 pillar now cuts a part of a circular slit in this shell, leaving just 

 enough of the circle uncut to hold the piece in place, and then forms a 



