96 STORED GRAIN AND FLOUR. 
The first observation of this infestation as a serious mill trouble 
was for some time considered to have been made in 1877, when the 
caterpillars were found to be very troublesome in the bolting-cloths 
during the grinding of a quantity of American flour, and moths from 
these were submitted by Dr. Kiihn (Director of the Agricultural 
Institute of the University of Halle, Germany) to Prof. C. P. Zeller, 
of Griinhof,* by whom they were found to be a species of Hphestia not 
previously described, and were specifically named by him after their 
observer—Dr. Ktihn—as hkiihniella. 
The first recorded observation of the appearance of the attack in 
this country was, so far as I am aware, in 1887, when moths which 
had been bred from ‘‘ Rice-cones’’ were submitted to Mr. Barrett, and 
identified by him as a species new in this country, namely, the Hphestia 
kithniella of Zeller.t In the course of the same year ‘‘a colony of 
this scourge of the Mediterranean ports’’ was discovered by Mr. Sidney 
J. Klein in some large warehouses in the Kast End of London, where 
there were over a thousand tons of flour stored in close proximity, and 
‘the attack spread with great rapidity until one entire warehouse was 
literally smothered with larva, and several hundred pounds worth of 
damage was done.” } 
Some observations on the attack and some which appeared to refer 
to it were sent to myself, but it was not until September 15th, 1888, 
that a complaint was made to me of the infestation as a really serious 
flour-mill pest, with specimens accompanying, from which I was able 
to study the attack, and also to rear the moth. 
On making enquiries relatively to the presence of this Flour Moth 
at the Mediterranean ports, I was informed that it was prevalent there 
where the highly glutenous Russian and Hungarian Wheats were used. 
How far the nature of the Wheat affected amount of caterpillar was 
quite beyond me to judge of, although my correspondent was well 
qualified to be certain as to observable facts. But thinking that, 
whatever might be the cause of the infestation, the presence of the 
pest might reasonably be attributed to it being exported with the 
Wheat from the country which it frequents, I wrote to Dr. Linde- 
man, the Russian Agricultural Entomologist, on the subject. Dr. 
Lindeman was good enough to reply at once that he could take on 
himself to state that up to that time the insect had not been 
observed in Central Russia, and he was not aware of its presence in 
Southern Russia. 
The recent observations are usefully given by Mr. F. H. Chittenden, 
* Ent. Zeit. Stettin, 1879. 
t+ ‘The Entomologist’ for May, 1887 (No. 288, p. 139). Messrs. West, 
Newman & Co., Hatton Garden, London, E.C. 
t Transactions of Entomological Society, part iv. Dec., 1887, p. li. 
