14 Farmers’ Bulletin 1156. 
moth can not infest the corn if the shuck covering is well de- 
veloped and uninjured. The planting of varieties of corn develop- 
ing a long, tight shuck, as recommended by the department,’ will 
greatly lessen moth injury in the field. But this advantage which 
corn has is not shared by wheat, barley, and similar small grains. 
The female moth upon flying from bin to field may lay from 20 to 
30 eggs upon the head of wheat chosen for attack. The larvee 
hatching from these eggs scatter over the head, only one entering 
each kernel. The thin membranes covering the kernel are no hin- 
drance to the entrance of the larve. This starting of infestation in 
the field may take place, as King® has so recently proved beyond 
doubt, even while wheat is “in the milk.” Infestations of growing 
wheat are most heavy nearest places where infested wheat has been 
stored throughout the winter and spring. 
EARLY FIELD INFESTATIONS AND DELAYED HARVEST- 
ING INCREASE OPPORTUNITY FOR DAMAGE. 
There is a direct relationship overlooked by many wheat growers 
between early field infestation, delayed harvesting, and damage 
caused by the Angoumois grain moth. In southern New Jersey, 
Maryland, and southeastern Pennsylvania the first moths appear in 
the wheat fields about the time the wheat is “in the milk.” In other 
words, the moth may begin to lay eggs in the wheat heads at any 
time after the kernels are well set. As each moth may live five days, 
during which she flies about the field laying eggs in batches of 1 to 
20 or more until she has laid a total of about 150 eggs, it will be 
understood that a field of grain may have many heads infested by 
the early summer flight of moths from near-by cribs or granaries. 
Ordinarily, however, these first early summer infestations are very 
slight and cause no appreciable loss if the crop is handled correctly. 
SECOND AND THIRD GENERATION IN FIELD SPREADS LIKE WILD- 
FIRE. 
The first generation of moths in the maturing heads of wheat, as 
just stated, usually is not a large one. But for each female moth of, 
the first generation that reached the field in late May and June, there 
may be 150 moths of the second generation maturing in middle July 
and August. Ordinarily the moths of the second generation begin 
to appear soon after the grain is ready to cut, though a few may 
mature before the grain is ripened. The moths for the third genera- 
5 For further discussion of long tight shuck, see U. S. Department of Agriculture 
Farmers’ Bulletin 915, ‘‘ How to reduce weevil waste in southern corn,’”’ by C. H. Kyle. 
‘kine, J. L. THE ANGOUMOIS GRAIN MOTH. Pa, Dept, Agr., Bur. Plant Industry 
Circular No. 1. 14 p., 2 figs. 1920. : 
