THE FIG-MOTH 117 



clusters of debris will be observed on the 

 outside of the dried fruit — the dejecta of 

 the larva burrowing within — and numerous 

 round holes can be detected through which 

 the larvae have made their entrance. If 

 cut open and carefully examined, one or 

 two small white grubs may be found, which 

 give the fig a singularly sour-bitter and most 

 unpleasant taste. This is the larva of the 

 moth, Ephestia cautella which has for the 

 last four or five years been attracting much 

 attention in the Levant market. From 15 

 to 50 per cent, of the figs exported from 

 Smyrna, the great centre of the fig-trade, are 

 infected with this ' worm,' and active steps 

 were being taken before the War spread to 

 the Near East to check its ravages. The 

 moth itself is very like E. kuhniella, but 

 readily distinguished by an entomologist. 

 Originally, it seems to have come from Asiatic 

 Turkey, but by the aid of commerce it has 

 been distributed in a broad belt all round 

 the world within certain limits of temperature. 

 Wide as its distribution now is, it is equally 

 catholic in its tastes. Perhaps it does as 

 much harm to the chocolate trade as to any 

 other, attacking the cacao-bean as well as 

 the prepared article ; all sorts of nuts 

 are infested. At one time it was thought 

 that the oil of the nuts was the attraction. 



