24 



the southwestern part of that State. It seems to have been Brst 

 observed in the early part of 1893, and has been spreading from 

 mill to mill until it is now es'ablisbed in mills in several counties. 

 I cannot find any printed account of its presence there previous 

 to my own announcement of it in March, 1895. 



Dr. J. A. Lintner, the State Entomologist, stated, in a letter 

 written in February, 1885, that he had no knowledge of the flour 

 moth as an American insect, and that if it existed in the United 

 States it was unknown to him. I cannot venture even the slight- 

 est hint as to the source of this outbreak in New York. Suffice 

 it to say that the pest is well established in several interior coun- 

 ties in the southwestern part of the State, and, from present ac- 

 counts, is spreading to others. The latest information I have 

 on this subject is contained in a communication to the "Ameri- 

 can Miller" for December, 1895, (p. 910) from a Pennsylvania 

 miller living in the vicinity of the New York outbreak. 

 I Considering the ease with which the flour moth is carried from 

 place to place, it is not surprising that we hear so much concern- 

 ing its ravages. The eggs, larvae, and pupse are transferred long 

 distances in manufactured products, and the conveyances themselves 

 very often become sources of infestation. Ships, canal boats, 

 freight cars, or even wagons that carry large quantities of grain, 

 flour, or other farinaceous products, afford excellent breeding 

 beds for this pest, which is usually transferred to the warehouse, 

 mill, store, or private residence with the material. The fact that 

 the adult moth is capable of living from seven to nine days after 

 maturity, seems to indicate that it may fly a considerable distance; 

 and in large cities where many mills are operated, it is quite pos- 

 sible that the parent insect often finds lodgment in such places 

 after long flights. The moth, however, is not a rapid flyer, and 

 alights quite often, the distance between flights depending on the 

 surroundings. In a California mill I have seen the adulrs fly the 

 full length of the building (a hundred and ten feet) before light- 

 ing. In the open air no doubt the flight would be much longer. 



Owing to the minuteness of the eggs, and to the fact that the 

 larvpe are almost always concealed, these two stages are the most 

 readily transferable. Eggs deposited on sacks of flour and on 

 other manufactured products in the mill, are carried away un- 

 noticed with the material, and the pest is thus given a large local 

 distribution, finding lodgement in warehouses, grocery stores, livery 

 and feed stables, hotels, and private dwellings. Mills in the vicinity 

 of such places are liable to become infested from them, by the 

 return of old bags or barrels. 



The pest is sometimes transferred long distances in second-hand 

 machinery. In April, 1894, a Stockton, Cal., miller wrote me as 

 follows: "Referring to yours of the 3d inst., relative to the Medi- 

 terranean flour moth, would state that I have known of it for some 

 years, and for the past eighteen months we have had it with 

 us here. Although its presence is not at all desirable, still we 

 have suffered no damage or inconvenience from it, unless, per- 

 haps, we have had to exercise a little more vigilance in keeping 

 the mill thoroughly clean. We introduced it here by purchas- 



