MEDITERRANEAN FLOUR OR MILL MOTH. OF 
Assistant Entomologist of U.S.A. Department of Agriculture, in con- 
densed form as follows :— 
‘«Until the year 1877, when the moth was discovered in a flour 
mill in Germany, it was comparatively unknown. In later years it 
invaded Belgium and Holland, and in 1887 appeared in England. 
Two years later it made its appearance in destructive numbers in 
Canada. . . . Previous to the Canadian invasion, this moth was 
generally believed to have reached Europe from America, but, as a 
matter of fact, the species had not been recognized here until 1889. 
Danysz* has traced its occurrence in this country as far back as 1880. 
He mentions also an outbreak in Constantinople in 1872, and presents 
evidence that it was probably known in Europe as early as 1840. 
Until the present year this insect was known as injurious on this 
continent only in Canada and California, but in the ‘American Miller’ 
of May 1st, 1895, Mr. W.G. Johnson states that it has appeared in 
New York State. It is recorded also from North Carolina, Alabama, 
New Mexico, Colorado, Mexico, and Chile, and probably occurs in 
Australia.” + 
The above notes show the rapidity of the spread of this mill pest 
in the last few years, relatively to which Mr. Chittenden remarks :— 
‘That the Mediterranean Mill Moth has become go formidable in 
recent years is due to the higher and more equable temperature 
maintained in modern mills, a condition highly favourable to the 
development of the insect.” 
And to give yet another short extract from the same serviceable 
pamphlet, p. 284, the following note, which adds grain, biscuits, &c., 
to the dietary of the caterpillars, shows a much greater variety in 
nature of food than, so far as I am aware, is known of generally :— 
‘* Although the larva prefers flour and meal, it will attack grain when 
the former are not available, and it flourishes also on bran, prepared 
cereal foods, including Buckwheat grits, and crackers.” In the same 
paragraph mention is made of it having been recently discovered as an 
inquiline (co-tenant) in the nests of a wild Humble Bee in California, 
and that ‘“‘ Mr. D. W. Coquillett reports that it also occurs in the hives 
of the Honey Bee.” 
I have drawn attention to the above by italicising the word 
‘‘ generally,” as I am not aware that the great power of the F. kiihni- 
ella caterpillars noticed by Mons. J. Danysz (Directeur du Laboratoire 
de Parasitologie de la Bourse de Commerce, Paris) of infesting biscuit 
* Mons. J. Danysz, Director of the Laboratoire de Parasitologie, Bourse de 
Commerce, Paris, author of a valuable pamphlet on EF. kiihniella. 
t+ ‘The More Important Insects Injurious to Stored Grain,’ by F. H. 
Chittenden, Assistant Entomologist, United States Department of Agriculture. 
Washington. 1895. 
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