116 



MORE MINOR HORRORS 



than the one described in the"above-mentioned 

 book.^ 



Whoever has attentively eaten dried figs 

 must from time to time have become aware 



Fig. 33. — The fig-moth {Ephestia cautella). a, Moth with 

 expanded wings ; 6, denuded wings showing venation ; c, 

 larva, full grown, dorsal view ; d, two egg masses, a, b, 

 c. About four times natural size ; d, more enlarged. 



that there is something very defective in 

 their flavour, and on close inspection little 



^ It might be well to repeat the fact that the genus Ephestia 

 blongs to the family PY BALI DAE, which is by most authorities 

 included in the Microlepidoptera. The Speaker's sneer at the ento- 

 mologists who work at this group (see his letter in The Times of 

 February 2, 1916) is hardly worthy of one of the chief trustees of 

 the British Museum. As a chief trustee, he must have been aware 

 of the exhibit of the Microlepidoptera, E. kiihniella, and its devasta- 

 ting action on the biscuits supplied to our soldiers by the War Oflfice, 

 which has for many months occupied a prominent position in the 

 middle of the central hall of the Natural History Museum at South 

 Kensington. This exhibit showed how closely the study of the 

 Microlepidoptera is associated with the food-supply of our soldiers 

 in many parts of the world. 



