22 



The moth seems to have appeared in great numbers in certain 

 localities for a time, and theu disappeared. Prof. Zeller wrote 

 Dr. Riley in 1883 that the iiisect hud apparently died out at 

 Giiinhof; and, as stated above, Mr. Danysz whsinformedby a prac'ical 

 miJler that it appeared iu destructive numbers in a flouring-mill 

 in Coustantiuople in 1«72, and disappear^-d after two years. This 

 mit^ht seem to indicate that the iui-ect is a passive creature, and 

 if not disturbed, and allowed to multiply for a time, would finally 

 disappear altogether; but so far as I can learn' it has never disap- 

 peared from a given locality or mill only after the most energetic 

 fighting. 



There is not much doubt but that the moth existed in widely 

 separated places a long time before \817. As stated above, Mr. 

 Danyrz has collected some important information on this point 

 from practical millers in France. I have been informed by a 

 thoroughly reliable miller in San Fiancisco, whose name I with- 

 hold by request, that he came iu coutact with this pest in 1858. 

 At that time he was employed in a large flouring mill at Rast- 

 dorf, near Kiel, Schleswig Holstein, Germany, where the moth 

 was very abundant during the month of June. He is positive 

 about his identification of the insect, having had much experience 

 fighting it in Ins California mi'ls since 1889, 



t The foregoing facts in lica*^e that JEphestia kuehnicUa was 

 thoroughly established in (jreimany twenty years or more before it 

 fame into Pi of. Zeller's hands for description, and it is there- 

 ore unlikely that the pent was introduced into that country from 

 North America. From all I have been able to gather on this 

 poiut I am of the opinion that its original home, if ever ascertained, 

 will not be North America. 



It has been recently discovered that this moth liv^es in the nests 

 of a wild bumblebee in California, and Mr. D. W. Coquillett, of 

 the U. S. Department of Agriculture, is reported by Mr. F. H. 

 Chittenden as having stated that it also occurs in the hives of 

 the honeybee. The question na'urally pret^ents itself, has the 

 moth found that it caa perpetuate its species in a bumblebee's 

 nest or a beehive, and transferred its attack from the mill to 

 these more natural and primitive food houses, or vice versa? The 

 theory that the transfer has been from the bumblebee's nest and 

 the beehive to the mill would afford a plausible explanation of 

 the appearance of the moth in mills in isolated places, and at 

 times when it was least expected. Ttie origin of the California 

 outbreak might be thus explained; but [ have myself no faith in 

 this theory concerning the present infestation, and will not discuss 

 the matter further from this stH,udpoint. 



I will now state as briefly as possible the facts I have gathered 

 regarding its occurrem'-e on the Pdcifio coast. I have been told by 

 prominent millers in California, that it has been less than fifteen 

 years since oatmeal was bought in the Eastern States, shipped to 

 California, and sold cheaper than it could be manufactured there. 

 I do not infer from this that the moth came through this chan_ 

 nel, but simply introduce the statement to indicate the commercial 



