18S7.] 255 



greenish-yellow, with iudistinet dorsal line ; there is a row of indentations on each 

 side of the latter ; the lateral skin-fold marked out by larger indentations abore and 

 below ; segmental divisions distinct. The larvse pupate on silken pads, which are 

 often spun on the midrib of a leaf of the food- plant. The moths began to emerge in 

 captivity on June 15th. The species is obtainable over a long period, for I see that 

 I took three moths on June 10th, several larvre and two moths on June IGth, and 

 larvae, pupae, and moths on July 3rd. I failed to find any larvae in 1886 in leaves of 

 Juncus Qerardi, but feel sure that in this neighbourhood also they feed in this plant, 

 as the moths were abundant among it at some distance from any Scirpus. — W. H. 

 B. Fletcher, Fairlawn House, Worthing : March 1th, 1887. 



Ephestia Kilhniella, Z., in England. — Seven years ago the late Professor Zeller 

 sent me specimens of an JEphestia which he had just described (Stett. Ent. Zeit., 

 1879, pp. 466—471) under the name of Kilhniella, he having received larvae in 1877 

 from Dr. Kiihn, of Halle, who had found them in a mill there, in which much 

 American wheat was ground. On the wheaten flour the larvae fed, and, according to 

 the miller, they were particular in their tastes, and would not eat the r^e-meal. 



With the moths Professor Zeller sent living larvae, explaining that I should 

 have no difficulty in breeding as many of the moths as I pleased. Following his 

 directions, I placed the larvae in close-fitting boxes, in which I had put some soft 

 paper, some bran, and plenty of wheaten flour. The larvae burrowed among the 

 bran and flour, eating the latter, and forming loose passages of web until full 

 fed, when they spun up among the paper, and the moths emerged in July. 

 They appeared quite contented, and duly laid plenty of eggs, from which a 

 second brood appeared in (I think) October or November. From the eggs of 

 these the next brood appeared in the following summer, the only attention paid 

 them in all this time being the occasional addition of a little flour. When, in 

 the autumn, the offspring of this third brood went on contentedly feeding up in the 

 same boxes, I felt I had carried the experiment far enough. I had satisfied myself 

 that if introduced the species would flourish, increase and multiply, and it seemed 

 possible that if moths or larvae were to escape, I might be the unwilling means of 

 introducing a mischievous pest. I therefore destroyed all the larvae I had. I find 

 now that (as indeed might be expected) this species, which had reached Germany 

 ten years ago, has probably been established in this country for at least half that 

 period. It has spread widely on the continent, and a very exhaustive account, 

 with a beautiful plate, is given by Snellen in Tijdschr. Ent., 1885, p. 237, pL viii. 

 Mr. William Thompson, of Stoney Stratford, sent me a few days ago, under the name 

 of ceratonice, specimens which undoubtedly belong to Kuhniella. He tells me that 

 he reared thera from larvae found in abundance among rice cones (which appear to 

 be a mixture of ground rice and wheat meal), on the premises of a baker in his own 

 neighbourhood. The material was brought from a warehouse in a neighbouring town, 

 but whence previously obtained could not be traced. The moths, had however, been 

 noticed sitting on the meal-room walls from time to time for three or four years. 

 Having, therefore, made good its footing with us, there is little prospect that the 

 species will die out, but from its highly domestic habits, and the universal necessity 

 for its pabulum, it is more likely that it may in time become, like Pyralis farinalis, 

 a common domestic pest. 



