MAN'S ACCOUNT WITH THE LOWEE ANIMALS 7 



the necessity of storing grain for long periods in some of the 

 principal countries of production. 



Opinions vary much as to the actual amount of the damage 

 caused by grain-weevils — under which term are generally 

 included other grain-beetles as well as the true weevils them- 

 selves. Some idea of the magnitude of the loss may, however, 

 be gained from the following figures. The world -crop of 

 wheat for the year 1912 was estimated at between three and 

 four thousand million bushels (Noel-Pa ton). In America it 

 has been estimated that damage to the extent of 5 per cent is 

 caused by grain-pests, chiefly weevils. One of the largest 

 shippers of Indian wheat, quoted by Mr. Noel-Paton, has said, 

 on the other hand, that the average wastage from this cause 

 is about 2-J- per cent. There is reason to believe that the 

 latter is a very low estimate, but even at this rate the loss on 

 Indian wheat alone would amount to about nine million bushels 

 annually, representing a value of more than £1,000,000. This 

 would have to be multiplied by at least 10, and probably 

 much more, to give the loss for the entire world. I leave 

 out of account the damage to rice and other cereals, and of 

 course, whenever prolonged storage becomes necessary the 

 weevil problem becomes correspondiagly accentuated. In 

 Australia, at the present moment, many milHon pounds' worth 

 of wheat are stacked, it is to be feared under very unfavour- 

 able conditions, awaiting shipment, while it was recently 

 reported in the press that Great Britain and France have 

 undertaken to buy and ship before November 1, 1918, 2,500,000 

 tons of wheat and other cereals from the Argentine. 



A really badly weevilled sample of wheat, such as is often 

 formd in a ship's cargo after a long voyage through the tropics, 

 would certainly not be a pleasant sight to the fastidious 

 housewife, but to the zoologist it is a wonderful microcosm, 

 full of interesting inhabitants. The grain appears to be alive 

 with insects, swarming through it and burrowing into it. 

 Several different kinds wiU probably be present. Some of 

 them are primary pests, feeding directly upon the sound 

 grain, which they rapidly reduce to empty husks ; others are of 

 secondary importance, feeding upon the debris produced by 



