ENTOMOLOGY 219 



The larva is worm-like, about one-half inch long. The head is 

 dark brown, and the body provided with 'bristle-like hairs. 



About five weeks are required for this insect to pass through all 

 its stages from the egg to the adult. In the latitude of Washington 

 there may be six or more generations a year. In the Southern States, 

 doubtless more than this may be raised, and it is quite probable that 

 breeding may continue uninterrupted throughout the year. In some 

 places where this insect is known, it has created such havoc that it 

 has been called the scourge of the flour mill. The larvae live in silken 

 tubes which they spin through the grain or flour, and it is this habit 

 that renders them so injurious. These webs cause a felting together 

 of the flour which clogs the machinery, causing frequent and pro- 

 tracted delays. This caterpillar seems to prefer flour or meal, but 

 it will also attack other cereal products. 



The Indian-Meal Moth. The Indian-meal moth is another se- 

 rious pest to stored grain and cereal products. It has been bred from 

 flour, dried apples, dried peaches, sweet-corn, field-corn, grits and 

 corn-meal. In the latter it was particularly abundant. Corn-meal 

 set aside for a few weeks becomes badly infested. Besides the above 

 mentioned products which it infests, it is recorded as infesting nuts, 

 condiments, sugars, jellies, yeast-cakes, herbs, roots, millet, all kinds 

 of dried fruits, raisins, prunes, and peanuts. In fact it may be 

 said that almost any kind of edible is subject to its attack. 



The adult is a small moth of the family Phycitidae to which 

 family also belongs the Mediterranean flour moth just referred to. 

 The Indian-meal moth has a wing expanse of about five-eighths of 

 an inch. The basal one-third of the fore-wing is of a dirty white, 

 while the distal portion is reddish brown. The body is rather stout 

 for moths of this group. 



The larva, or worm, is a small whitish insect, with brownish 

 yellow head, living within the silken tubes which it spins through 

 the meal, dried fruit, or other material! which it may infest. The 

 pupa is a capsule-shaped body about three-eighths of an inch in 

 length. The wing-pads and antennae are distinctly visible on the 

 ventral surface. 



The eggs are laid by the moth in the material on which the 

 larvae feed. The larvae spin silken tubes through the food, and in 

 these they live and finally undergo their transformation. Infested 

 meal becomes clotted and lumpy from these silken threads binding 

 the grain together. The life cycle from egg to adult is completed in 

 about one month, which being so short, allows of many generations 

 during the year. This insect probably breeds continuously through- 

 out the year. 



The Granary Weevil. This insect is doubtless native to the 

 Alediterranean region where it probably was known before the Chris- 

 tian era. Having been domesticated for so long a time, it has now 

 lost the use of its wings, which are present only as rudiments, and 

 cannot function for flight. It has been found infesting corn, cow- 

 peas, flour, corn-meal and rice. 



