167 



rare here, for every case of serious damage to graia by Lepidopterous 

 larviTB which has been carefully investigated has shown that the author 

 of the damage was either the Augoumois Moth {Gelechia cerealella), the 

 Grain Moth {Tinea granella) or Ephestea interpunotella {=zece Fitch), a 

 congeneric insect which was treated by Dr. Fitch under the common 

 name of the " Indian-meal Moth." 



As will be seen by the following digest of recent European writings 

 en the subject, the insect is supposed to be of American origin, but ad- 

 mitting that it has been iinown for a few years in America, and that 

 during the summer of 1889 it made a destructive appearance in Canada, 

 the point as to its origin still remains obscure. It has, in fact, really 

 been known longer in Europe than in America, and the first speci- 

 mens from which Professor Zeller described the species were reared in 

 Germany. It seems to be simply another instance of the extreme readi- 

 ness with which Europeans attribute all new pests to this country. 



That the insect is with us now, however, in destructive numbers, and 

 that it is a pest of no small magnitude, cannot be doubted. The condition 

 of affairs in Canada, as stated by Mr. Fletcher in his letter, is by no 

 means exaggerated. Mr. Howard was in Canada the latter part of 

 August, and accompanied Mr. Fletcher on a tour of inspection to the 

 worst infested establishment, and the entire building was completely 

 overrun by these creatures. Hardly a crack or a nail hole was to be found 



Fig. 29. — Ephestia kiihnieUa: a, cocoon from below, showing pupa through the thin silk attaching the 

 cocoon to a beam ; b, same, from above — enlarged (original). 



without the cocoons (Fig. 29), and every bit of flour or grain remaining 

 was spun together by their webs. The moths were still flying about in 

 numbers, although great eflbrts had already been made to destroy them. 

 The government of Ontario made strenuous ettbrts to stamp out the 

 pest, as can be seen from the bulletin already mentioned. The ma- 

 chinery was taken down and steamed, the walls were scraped down, 



