LESSER DRIED FRUIT MOTH. 85 



CHAPTER CXXI 



Lesser Dried Fruit Moth. 



(Plodia interpunctella. Hb.) 



Order : Lepidoptera. Family : Pyralidce. 



This very destructive moth belongs to the well-known 

 group of Pyrales, which includes most of those doing 

 damage to cereals, fruits. &c, when in the prepared 

 state. 



Dr. L. 0. Howard. Chief Entomologist of the United 

 States, and Mr. Chittenden, also of the Entomological 

 Staff of the same country, state that " the adult 

 moth has a wing expanse of between half and three- 

 quarters of an inch. The outer two-thirds of the fore 

 wings are reddish-brown (see Fig. V.), with a coppery 

 lustre. The inner portion and the hind wings are a light 

 dirty-grey in colour, being whitish, with light-rose, yel- 

 lowish, and greenish tints. The pupa is light -brown in 

 colour." 



" The eggs are minute, and white, and are deposited 

 to the number of 350, singly and in groups of from three 

 to a dozen or more, upon whatever substance the female 

 may see fit to select for the sustenance of her offspring. 

 They hatch in about four days, and in four or more weeks 

 another brood is produced. In this manner, a succession 

 of generations appears. According to the temperature of 

 the building which the insect inhabits, these will vary from 

 four to possibly six or seven a year. The caterpillars spin 

 a certain amount of silk as they feed, joining together 

 particles of their food and excrement, and thus injuring 

 several times the amount of material thev consume. 

 "When fully matured, they crawl hither and thither, 

 trailing large quantities of their silken tlrreads after them 

 in their search for a suitable place for their transformation ; 

 and finally surround themselves in a cylindrical silken web, 

 jn which they change to chrysalids and then to moths." 



