INSECTS AFFECTING HOUSEHOLD GOODS 231 



ment also clings, so that much more grain is spoiled for food 

 than is really injured. The moth expands about three- 

 fourths of an inch, the inner third of the fore wings being 

 a light grayish and 

 the outer portion a 

 reddish-brown with 

 a coppery luster. 



The Meal Snout- 

 moth * (Fig. 162), is 

 of a light brown 

 color, the thorax, 

 base, and tips of the 

 fore wings being FIG. 161. The Indian meal-moth (Plodia 

 darker brown The interpunctella). (After Chittenden, U. S. 



Dept. Agr.) 

 WingS expand nearly fl moth . b> pupa . c> caterpillar-enlarged. 



an inch and are other- 

 wise marked with whitish lines as shown in the figure. It is 

 very similar to the last-mentioned species in its habits, con- 

 structing long tubes with silk 

 and particles of the food in 

 which it is living. The life- 

 history is completed in about 

 eight weeks, and four genera- 

 tions may occur in a year. The 

 moisture of "heated" grain is 

 most favorable for the devel- 

 opment of this pest, and it 

 need not be feared if grain 

 is kept in a clean, dry place. 



The worst pest of stored 

 grain in the South is the Angoumois Grain Moth.'f It 



FIG. 162. The meal snout-moth 

 (Py ralis farinal is) twice 

 natural size. (After Chit- 

 tenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



* Pyralis farinalis Linn. Family Pyralidce, see page 78. 

 t Sitotroga cerealella Oliv. Family Gelechiidce. 



