FAMILY TINEIDiE, 255 



The community is greatly indebted to Mr. Harris, for his discoveries in relation to the 

 Angoumois grainmoth. He had expressed his conviction, in the first edition of his treatise 

 on insects injurious to the farmer and to vegetation, that a certain grainmoth would prove 

 to be the true European angoumois grainmoth, and it seems that this prediction is fully 

 sustained by farther discoveries of our indefatigable and distinguished entomologist. 



This insect, in its perfect state, is known to lay from sixty to ninety eggs in clusters of 

 twenty or more upon each grain : these hatch in about five or six days into threadlike 

 worms, which disperse themselves about the grain-bin. After selecting a kernel by fixing 

 upon its tender part, the worm burrows into it, and there remains feeding until it arrives 

 at maturity : it then spins a web, dividing its cavity longitudinally into two unequal parts 

 by a silky partition, where it undergoes its transformation, the larger cavity serving the 

 purf>ose of a cocoon. 



It appears that infected wheat, when sown, may germinate, but the plumule will be 

 weak and small : the insect, however, still remains in the grain, feeding upon the starchy 

 matter, till it is ready to undergo its changes. These take place while the grain is still in 

 the field, and the mature insects may be found flying about the fields in the night, and are 

 ready in due time to deposit their eggs in the growing grain. 



It appears that the angoumois moth not only attacks wheat, but also Indian corn. Mr. 

 BicHARD Owen, of New-Harmony, first called the attention of the public to this fact in a 

 communication to the Cultivator in 1846. In Indian corn it attains a rather larger size than 

 in wheat, the wings expanding to about six-tenths of an inch. 



The method that has been found most effectual in destroying this grain- worm, consists 

 in exposing the grain to a temperature of 167° Fahr. for twelve hours ; or if the heat is 

 only lOi or 5°, it is sufficient to destroy the worms, provided it be continued for forty- 

 eight hours. Fumigation is another remedy which has been successfully employed. Expo- 

 sure to cold destroys both the larva and its eggs : if the grain, for example, in New-York 

 and New-England, is housed when it will be exposed to a cold at zero, the insect will be 

 destroyed. 



In addition to the foregoing, it is recommended to thresh the grain at an early day ; 

 inasmuch as by that operation the insect is destroyed to a great extent, after which the 

 grain may be preserved in bulk. Grain, however, should not be exposed in open casks 

 when it is liable to become infested : the insect may be excluded by keeping the grain in 

 closed boxes or hogsheads after threshing. Corn in the husk, too, is less exposed to de- 

 predation than when husked, especially when it remains standing in the field. 



