HOUSEHOLD AND CAMP INSECTS 



65 



weeks, consequently there may 'be a number of generations in a 

 year. Continuous breeding occurs in warm buildings. 



The meal snout moth^'"^ with its different shades of brown and 

 reddish reflections has a wing spread of about three-quarters of an 

 inch. The whitish caterpillar has a brown head and lives in long 

 silken tubes. It subsists mostly upon cereals though it has been 



Fig. 27 ]\Ieal snout moth: a, adult; b, larva; c, pupa in its cocoon; twice natural 

 size. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dep't Agr. Div. Ent. Bui. 4. n. s. iSgrO 



recorded as feeding upon other seeds and dried plants and dis- 

 playing a preference for clover. There are probably at least four 

 generations annually since the life cycle may ■ be completed in 

 8 weeks. . 



The European grain moth or wolf moth ^^ is a grayish, irreg- 

 ularly dark brown-spotted insect having a wing spread of about 

 half an inch. The yellowish white, brown-headed caterpillars are 

 about one-fourth of an inch long and form characteristic dull 

 reddish brown masses composed of groups of cocoons with the 

 meshes loosely filled v/ith brownish, gnawed materials. This 



^'::^ 



Fig. 28 Kernels of corn eaten by 

 European grain moth, enlarged. 

 (Author's illustration) 



Fig. 29 Cocoon masses of European 

 grain moth, enlarged. (Author's illus- 

 tration) 



''■^Pyralis farinalis Linn. 

 ^0 Tinea ^ranella Linn. 



