368 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 14 



boring into timber by Lepidopterous larvae for the porposes of hiber- 

 nation or transformation cannot be prevented by chemically treating 

 the wood. The wood excavated is net eaten. 

 Mr. August Busck states: 



In the fall of 1901 or 1902 a similar extensive infestation was ob- 

 served by me in a new cypress fence and the corner post of a chicken 

 house in the N. E. suburbs of Washington, D. C. Hundreds or more 

 larvae were dug out. Mr. T. Pergande thought these were a Pyraiista 

 larva infesting an adjoining com field. 



In November 1919 the Superintendent of Shops of the Atchison, 

 Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Co., Los Angeles, Calif., reported that 

 refrigerator car No. 4901 "came in full of worms. There are thousands 

 of these worms in this car and they are literally demolishing it." *** 

 "This is the second car of this kind that we have had in here recently." 



Samples of tne damaged wood from this car were sent by the Super- 

 intendent and showed that the damage had been done by medium 

 sized Lepidopterous larvae which had cut into the wood in order to 

 obtain a sheltered and protected place to spin their cocoons and for 

 transformation and not to feed on wood. Larvae and chrysalides in 

 cocoons were found in cavities scooped into the wood. Mr. Heinrich 

 identified the insect as a species of Olethreutidae, a group formerly in- 

 cluded under the old family Tortricidae . 



In this case the damage was more or less superficial and the wood 

 was probably not structiu-ally weakened but of course the appearance 

 of the car was ruined. 



Mr. J. A. Hyslop has given me a specimen of the white pine wood- 

 work of a beehive frcm Montgomery Co., Md., which has been badly 

 grooved by the destructive wax-worm or the larvae of the bee-moth 

 {Galleria mellonella Linn., family Galleriidae) , one of the microlepidop- 

 tera. Such damage to beehives is not uncommon in the United States. 

 F. B. Paddocki states: 



Although the frames and hive are eaten out for pupation it is doubt- 

 ful if the wood is a food, but probably it is used slightly in the construc- 

 tion of the cocoon. 



The larva prefers to get into a place which it can chew in order that 

 a cavity may be constructed and the cocoon thus be better protected. 



'Paddock, F. B. "The Beemoth or Waxworm." Bull. No. 231, Texas Agric. 

 Exp. Sta., June, 1918. 



