54 



' The Angoumois Grain Moth. 



{Gelechia cerealella, Oliv.) 



The angoumois grain motli is perhaps the most destructive 

 insect affecting our grain. It was introduced into this 

 country sometime before 1728 by the earlier settlers of 

 Carolina and Virginia, who brought it with them from 



Europe. The orig- 

 inal home of the 

 moth is supposed 

 to be South Eu- 

 rope, although it 

 seems to have at- 

 tracted popular at- 

 tention first in An- 

 gomoise province, 



„ ,,, . • r^ • Tx/r <-i 1 France, where it 



Fig. 10. Angoumois Grain Moth; a, Jarva; ' . 



b, pupa; c, adult; d, wings; e, egg; f, kernel caused immense 



of corn showing work of larva; all enlarged (^amao'e and nearly 



except f. ^ "^ 



resulted in a famine. This insect is more destructive in the 

 Southern States than in the Northern, and attacks corn and 

 wheat not only in the granary, but also in the field. It is 

 also said to attack cow peas, oats, and barley. This grain 

 insect is all the more destructive from the fact that it will 

 breed readily in confinement ; and if once introduced into a 

 granary and left to itself, it will entirely destroy it. 



The angoumois grain moth is a small fawn or light gray 

 colored insect, measuring about one-half an inch across its 

 expanded wings ; it has a shiney appearance, and the hind 

 wings have a feathery edge. The adult moth is represented 

 somewhat enlarged at c figure 10, and natural size by the 

 cross lines just beneath. A greatly enlarged egg is shown 

 at e ; the larva at a, with a line beneath representing the 

 natural size of the fully developed larva ; and at h the pupa 

 is figured enlarged, with the natural size indicated by the 

 line just beneath. 



