290 



An Important Publication on the Mediterranean Flour Moth/' — M. J. 

 Dauysz, of Paris, to whose preliuiiuary work on Ephentia kuehnieJla we 

 have recently referred, lias just published a completed account of his 

 recent investij^ations of this destructive insect in the shape of a sixty- 

 page illustrated pamphlet. Mr. Danysz's treatment of the subject com 

 preheuds a careful resume of former publications, an extended discus- 

 sion of the question of the origin of the species, and a most careful con 

 sideration of its life history and remedies. It will be remembered that 

 I^hiropean authors, with the single exception of Miss Ormerod, have 

 hitherto considered that this insect is of American origin, and that 

 it has been imported into Europe with American cereals. In our arti 

 cle published in vol. i, No. 6, of Insec'T Life we protested against this 

 haphazard conclusion, but with little effect upon P^uropean authors 

 who have since discussed the matter. After a careful review of the 

 arguments brought forth by European writers, Mr. Danysz concludes 

 that it is unsafe to point to any one country as the original home of this 

 insect. He is inclined to tliink that it was originally a very widespread 

 species, and that it comes into prominence as a pest in Hour mills at 

 intervals when circumstances favor. He places no reliance upon the 

 idea that it is being or has been imported in numbers from America 

 into Europe. He calls attention to the fact that the first appearance of 

 the insect in Germany in 1877 w^as at Halle, an inland town, and that 

 its first appearance in France was also at a point far inland. Its first 

 appearance in France, moreover, occurred i^rior to its first appearance 

 in England, and he concludes that the natural course of an importation 

 from America would have been exactly the reverse of what he shows 

 to have been the case. Moreover, ]\rr. Danysz has collected two import- 

 ant bits of information from two practical millers, one of whom remem- 

 l)ers that this same insect made its appearance in 1872 in large steam 

 dour mills in Constantinople; that it was destructive for two years and 

 then disappeared. The other individual states positively that he has 

 known the insect in the vicinity of Paris for more than fifty years, and 

 that he remembers having seen a serious case of damage as early as 

 1840. 



We have given this evidence this attention for the reason that cer- 

 tain extremists have argued that it is necessary to quarantine American 

 wheat before allowing it to enter France. The absurdity of such a 

 regulation is shown by the fact that at the present moment this iuvsect 

 is known to exist in no milling establishments in the United States 

 with the exception of one or two in San Francisco, and in these the 

 insect was never known prior to 1802. The Canadian outbreak which 

 we mentioned in our original article was the only one ever known in 



"Epheatia kiiehtiiella, Parasite des Bles, des Farines, et des Biscuits. Histoire 

 Naturelle du Parasite et Moyeus de le detruire. By J. Danysz. M^moires du Labora- 

 toive de Parasitologie V<>getale de la Bourse de Commerce, Vol. i, 1893. Paris, 1893. 



