ENEMIES OF COBN. 153 



The ANGOUMOIS MOTH. This insect is a destructive 

 enemy to other grains as well as to Indian corn, and 

 sometimes commits fearful ravages on wheat, oats, and. 

 barley. It was introduced from France into this 

 country many years ago, and is mostly confined to 

 the Southern States, being unable to endure the cli- 

 mate of the North. It is only upon the ripe grain, 

 says Dr. Asa Fitch,* that this moth preys, attacking 

 it in the field before harvest, and continuing to work 

 upon it in the mow and the out-door stack, but being 

 most destructive in the bins of granaries, flouring 

 mills, and storehouses. The eggs are laid in clusters 

 upon the kernels of the grain, and hatch in five to 

 seven days. The worm bores into the kernel, where 

 it remains feeding upon the flour, until only the hull 

 is left, whereby it appears to the eye sound and unin- 

 jured, but on being pressed is found to be soft, and 

 by washing, the injured kernels are separated. 



The WEEVIL. There are two species of this in- 

 sect, to the attacks of which Indian corn is liable, 

 viz. : the grain weevil and the rice weevil. Both of 

 these, like the angoumois moth, extend their ravages 

 to the other cereals, and attack only the ripened grain, 

 the inside of which they consume, leaving the hull 

 entire. " In the Northern States," says Dr. Fitch, 

 " they are mostly confined to the storehouses in our 

 cities. They are unknown in the interior of the 

 country, except as they have been received in seeds 



* See his article on Insects, in the Annual Register of Rural Af- 

 fairs for 1853. 



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