INSECTS AND WAR 35 



East, a word or two should also be said about 

 an allied species of insect, Ephestia cautella, 

 which infests at times 50 per cent, of the figs 

 of the East. It is a moth which is spread all 

 over the world, and is catholic in its taste, since 

 it flourishes on rice, bran, dried apples, maize, 

 and a great many more or less nutritious foods. 

 In Asia Minor it lays its eggs in the figs whilst 

 they are being dried in the sun. From the egg 

 a small maggot emerges and whoever eats dried 

 figs must at times come across them. These 

 larvae, which emerge when September melts into 

 October, render a voyage on a fig-laden ship very 

 unpleasant, as they crawl about the ship before 

 pupating. 



Finally, we must not forget the biscuit " weevil," 

 so familiar to us in Marryat's novels. And 

 the first thing to notice about it is that it is 

 not a weevil at all. It is in truth known as 

 Anobium paniceum, and is closely allied to A. 

 striatum, which makes the little round holes in 

 worm-eaten furniture so cleverly imitated by 

 second-hand furniture dealers. There is hardly 

 anything the larva of this insect will not eat, 

 from cayenne pepper to opium, from tablets of 

 compressed meat to Arabic manuscripts. It is, 



