REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST I913 



17 



Description. The moth is a grayish, irregularly dark brown 

 spotted insect having a wing spread of about one-half inch. The 

 coloration is quite variable, though the specimens present a fairly 

 characteristic appearance. 



Larva. Length 7 mm. Head reddish brown, the body moder- 

 ately stout, yellowish white and with sparse pale setae; the true 

 legs and prolegs concolorous with the body. 



Cocoon masses. A most characteristic feature of injury by this 

 pest is the peculiar masses of cocoons and frass in the vicinity of 

 infested grain. These masses are about half an inch wide and 

 from three-fourths of an inch to two or three inches in length, 

 irregularly oval and a dull reddish brown color. They are com- 

 posed of groups of cocoons, the meshes of the latter loosely filled 



Fig. 2 Kernels of corn 

 eaten by European grain 

 moth (enlarged, original) 



Fig. 3 Cocoon masses 

 and exuviae of European 

 grain moth (enlarged, orig- 

 inal) 



with brownish, gnawed particles. The light brown pupae, prior to 

 the disclosure of the adult, work about half way out of the masses, 

 and one may frequently see such a mass with ten to fifteen or twenty 

 pupal cases. The groups of cocoons may be so abundant as fairly 

 to plaster considerable areas of adjacent walls. 



Life history and habits. This insect is generally credited in 

 Europe with producing two broods annually. The females are 

 said to deposit thirty or more eggs on various grains, the young 

 caterpillars entering the kernels and, in the case of corn, displaying 

 a marked preference for the softer and more nutritious germ. The 

 individual caterpillars may attack several grains and seriously injure 

 or spoil as many as twenty. On attaining maturity they forsake the 

 grain, spin cocoons in masses as described above, and, in the case 



