172 



Elementary Principles of Agriculture 



the rice-weevil is the larger, and has a dull brown color. 

 The eggs are laid in the corn, often before it is gathered. 

 During warm weather it requires about six weeks to 

 mature a weevil from the egg, while, in cold weather, 



they multiply very 

 slowly. The egg- 

 laying continues 

 over a consider- 

 able period and, as 

 it requires such a 

 short while to ma- 

 ture a new brood, 

 it is no wonder 

 that they are found 

 in such numbers in 

 grain stored for 

 any considerable 

 time. It is esti- 

 mated that, in the 

 course of a season, 

 they mature six or 

 more generations, amounting to 500 or more individuals 

 from a single pair. 



241. The Grain Moths do more damage to the stored 

 grain than the weevils. The most common species is 

 the Angoumois grain moth, so named from a province 

 of Angoumois, France. It attacks grain in the field as 

 well as in the bin. The adult somewhat resembles the 

 common clothes moth. It is light grayish brown and 

 about a half-inch across when the wings are expanded. 

 The eggs are deposited in clusters of twenty to thirty 

 and require only about four to seven, or more, days 

 to hatch the caterpillars. The latter bore into the 



Fig. 111. Granary weevil, a, adult; 6, larva; 

 c, pupa; d, rice weevil. All enlarged. After 

 Chittenden. 



