496 THE SMALL GRAINS 



540. The Angoumois grain moth (Sitotroga cerealella, 

 Oliv.). This insect is named from the province of 

 Angoumois in France, where it existed in large numbers 

 a long time ago, in granaries and grain fields. It is now 

 distributed over the greater part of the United States, 

 but is more common in the southern states. It attacks 

 grain in the field, as well as in the bin, as far north as 

 Pennsylvania. It infests all cereals, including buckwheat 

 and the chickpea. 



The eggs are laid 60 to 90 by each female, singly or in lots of 

 about 20, on mature or immature standing corn, on grain in the 

 shock or stack, and on thrashed grain in the bin or corn in the crib. 

 They are minute, oval-shaped, white when laid, soon turning red- 

 dish, and are placed in longitudinal channels on the side of the grain 

 and between the rows of kernels on ear corn. They hatch in 4 

 to 10 days, depending upon the temperature. The larvae burrow 

 into the kernels, leaving exceedingly small openings, and feed on 

 the starchy material within. Usually a single larva infests a small 

 cereal kernel, but 2 or 3 may be found in a kernel of corn. 

 The caterpillar when full grown is inch long, white, with a yel- 

 lowish head. It has 6 pointed legs in front, 4 pairs of fleshy pro- 

 legs along the middle, and 1 pair at the tip. It matures in 20 to 

 24 days, and spins a thin, silken cocoon within the kernel, in 

 which it transforms to a pupa. In a few days the moth emerges. 

 The adult moth is light grayish brown, small, measuring a little over 

 | inch across the expanded wings, the latter narrow, pointed, and 

 bordered with a long fringe. In warm weather the life cycle is about 

 5 weeks (Fig. 155). 



In the middle latitudes this insect, so far as known, 

 hibernates in the larval stage in kernels of wheat, corn, 

 rye, and barley, and there are 4 or 5 broods annually. 

 In the South, and in warm buildings, 6 generations may 

 be possible (Chittenden, 1896). 



541. The Mediterranean flour moth (Ephestia kueh- 

 niella, Zell.). This insect occurs throughout Europe. 



