l894-] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 15 



DEPARTMENT OF EGONOMIG ENTOMOLOGY. 



Edited by Prof. JOHN B. SMITH, Sc. D., New Brunswick, N. J. 



The Grain Moth at the Fair. — Early in the season, while yet matters were 

 in an extremely unfinished condition at Chicago, I wandered through the 

 " Palace of Agriculture," admiring the enormous quantities of corn dis- 

 played in every possible fashion; used as ornaments, and for decorations 

 of every descriptions. Wheat, in any quantity, was also represented, and 

 ingenious use was made of it to enhance the beauty and characteristic 

 features of this building. At that time I noticed only a very slight amount 

 of grain and corn that appeared infested by the grain moth; here and 

 there, in an ear of corn, there was a kernel with the little hole character- 

 istic of the injury done by this insect. In August, first early in the month, 

 and again some time about the middle, I again wandered through the 

 building, observing matters here and there, and I was now struck by the 

 fact that there was not an exhibit in which even the majority of ears of 

 corn did not show signs of the work of this insect. Even in the exhibit 

 made by the Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, almost every 

 ear showed some infection, and not only corn grown in one part of the 

 country, but wherever Indian corn was exhibited were signs of this insect 

 apparent. 



In October, Prof. Voorhees, of the New Jersey Station, made another 

 visit to the Fair, and also made rather a close examination of the grains 

 and corns that were exhibited. He informs me that everything was 

 ruined by the insect; that in the New Jersey exhibit, which, of course, he 

 examined more particularly; everyjar of grain was simply a nest of moths 

 and larvae, and that everywhere the same appearance prevailed; that in 

 fact, the whole building had become one vast breeding ground for these 

 insects. Orders were therefore given, that all the grain that had been 

 gathered with so much trouble, the finest specimens of each variety, the 

 great ears of Indian corn, everything in fact should be destroyed to pre- 

 vent the introduction of the insect into localities in which perhaps it had 

 not yet appeared naturally. Some interesting questions come up now — 

 what will be the effect of the liberation of the vast number of insects 

 which matured in this immense building ? What will become of them? 

 Will they be able to live through the W'inter, or will they meet destruc- 

 tion by the elements? Have they not already spread from that building 

 into the surrounding territory, or will they not seek shelter when they 

 are disturbed by the clearing out of the building, find their way into the 

 country around about, into barns and into graineries, and will they not 

 cause considerable damage ? The questions may not be of very much 

 importance; but it is rather an interesting matter, because other insects, 

 not so noticeable perhaps as this grain moth, may have been quietly 

 breeding in some of the exhibits gathered at Chicago during the present 

 season, and we may hear of them again at no distant date, in a manner 



