70 LIFE-HISTORIES OF GELECHIAD © 
The egg is about 0°5 mm. long and 0:26 mm. broad, cylindrical, rather 
stout, translucent white with longitudinal ridges and furrows; the micropylar 
area, at one end, is flattened and contains a slight circular concavity; the 
other end of the egg is rounded or slightly tapering. Within a day of deposi- 
tion the colour of the egg changes to yellowish and it continues to deepen 
until it is almost brown. The larva emerges by eating through the concave 
portion of the micropylar area ; some larve eat a little more of the egg-shell, 
but only so much of the shell is eaten as is necessary for the emergence of the 
larva. The empty egg-shell is white. As many as 117 eggs were laid by one 
female moth between 25th July and 31st July, the moth dying on 3rd August. 
The newly-hatched larva is less than 1 mm. long, cylindrical, pmkish- 
yellow ; head brown ; five pairs of equally developed prolegs. It seldom 
bores into the grain on which the egg was deposited but wanders about and 
selects a grain into which it begins to bore by making a hole in the cavity left 
by the breaking away of the stalk. After boring a little way into one grain 
it may leave it and wander about again in search of another. When once it 
has really entered into a grain, however, it does not leave it again but passes 
the rest of its larval life in that grain. There is never more than one larva 
in one grain, at least in the case of rice. Before it has finally settled down, 
the larva is very quick in its movements, but when grown larger it can hardly 
walk and seems to be helpless if removed from the grain, nor can it bore into 
another grain. The larva makes its way directly into the starchy part of the 
grain and the germ is left untouched. By the time that the larva is full-grown 
the whole of the starchy portion (of a rice grain) has been consumed. 
The full-grown larva is about 6 mm. long and about 1 mm. broad, body 
very soft with the segments fairly distinct, pure white, with scattered minute 
white hairs; head smaller than prothorax, into which it is at times retracted 
pale yellow, mouthparts brown; prothoracic shield large, pale yellow; 
spiracles round, rimmed with yellow ; five pairs of reduced prolegs. 
Pupation takes place inside the grain in which the larva has fed. The 
pellets of frass are pushed to one side and there is formed a white silken cocoon 
lining almost the whole length of the cavity formed by the larva. The end of 
the cocoon next the capital extremity of the pupa is left open and the hard 
covering of the grain at this part is eaten just so much as to leave a thin membra- 
nous cover for the open mouth of the cocoon. This cover is broken through 
by the moth on its emergence. 
The pupa is about 5 mm. long and about 1:25 mm. broad, yellow-brown 
Thin hairs are present on the posterior abdominal segments and cremastral 
hairs on the anal segment, The last larval skin is pushed to the posterior end 
