ANGOUMOIS moth: DISTRIBUTION AND REMEDIES. 109 



Distribution. 



In Europe, its greatest depredations have been in France, but it oc- 

 curs also in several other portions of southern Europe, extending, at 

 least, northward into Belgium.* Stainton, in his Manual of British 

 Moths and Butterflies, records it in England — the larva in grains of 

 barley and wheat, in March and October. 



In the United States it probably occurs throughout the entire wheat 

 region. We find special record of it in Massachusetts, Virginia, North 

 and South Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. It has appar- 

 ently not extended itself into Canada, for, in 1881, Mr. William Saun- 

 ders, of London, Ont., stated that it had never, to his knowledge, been 

 found within the limits of that Province, f 



Remedies. 



When the insect infests stored grains, fumigation in tight vessels with 

 charcoal gas has been recommended. Probably the best agent for its 

 destruction is heat, and we accordingly find the mention of this method 

 by all writers who have considered the means of arresting the ravages 

 of the pest. In France contrivances sometimes called insect mills, have 

 been devised for heating infested grain, and stirring it at the time so 

 that the heat could be uniformly distributed throughout the entire mass. 

 According to Dr. Harris, exposing the grain in a kiln at a tempera- 

 lure of 167° Fahr. for twelve hours has sufficed to kill the insect, and 

 even a very moderate temperature if continued for a length of time — 

 as 104° for two days. Experiments made by Mr. F. M. Webster, of 

 Illinois, to ascertain the amount of heat required, gave these results : 

 " A temperature of 140° Fahr., continued for nine hours, literally cooks 

 the larva or pupa. A temperature of 130° Fahr. for five hours is 

 fatal, as is also 120° for four hours, while 110°, applied for six hours, was 

 only partially effective." It was also found that the highest temperature 

 above mentioned, and even 10° higher (150°), could be borne by wheat 

 for eight hours without impairing its germinating properties. J The dry- 

 ing-rooms, arranged with steam pipes, used by many of the large grain 

 dealers of our Western States. Avould afford every facility for the appli- 

 cation of the desired degree of heat to infested grain. 



Dr. Herpin, who made special study of this insect during the time of 

 its greatest ravages in France, and who has published largely upon it, 



^Catalogue dee Zepidopteres de Belgique, per Ch. Donckier de Donceel, ia Annales de la 

 Societe Eniomologique de Belgiqve, xxvi, 1882, pp. 5-161, 

 \ Canadian Entomologist, October, 1881, xiii, p. 198. 

 X 12th, Report on the Insects of Illinois, 1883, p. 152. 



