CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 



28l 



light brown, with reddish reflections. The larva is 

 about three-quarters of an inch long, and is consider- 

 ably darker than that of the preceding species. Its 

 habits are similar to those of the Indian meal moth. 

 The larva constructs tubes of silk and particles of 

 feed or other food in which it lives. It lives on cereals 

 of all kinds and in all conditions, either in the kernel 

 or in the form of flour, meal or bran. 



Fig 78— Common Grain and Flour Beetle 



Tribolium confusuvi: «, beetle; d, larva; c, pupa — all enlarged; d % lateral 

 lobe of abdomen of pupa; e, head of L beetle, showing antenna; f % same of T 

 terrugineum — all greatly enlarged (after Chittenden). 



The Mediterranean Hour moth is the most impor- 

 tant of all mill insects. It is the scourge of the flour 

 mill and has attracted much attention in recent years. 

 It was discovered in a flour mill in Germany in 1877. 

 In later years it invaded Belgium and Holland, and 

 in 1886 appeared in England. Three years later it 

 made its appearance in destructive numbers in Canada. 

 In 1892 it was discovered by the writer in mills in Cal- 

 ifornia and in New York, Pennsylvania in 1895, an d 

 recently in Ohio. Indiana and other states. The adult 



