2 BULLETIN 783, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
laid its eggs in the beans, which are sometimes warehoused for several 
months, in the country from which they were shipped. During this 
period of storage additional generations of larvae are hatched which 
destroy large quantities of the cacao beans or render them unfit 
for sale. The rice moths have been found most numerous in the 
older beans and also occur abundantly in cocoa nibs, in cocoa in 
powdered form, in refuse cocoa dust, and in ground cacao shells, 
so that they may be said to feed on any form of the cacao bean from 
the shells to the finished or edible article, cocoa or chocolate in 
powder, in cakes, and in confections, whether the substance is sweet- 
ened or unsweetened. 
Later moths and lar- 
vae of this species were 
received in rice from 
different sources which 
will be mentioned here- 
after. 
This species works in 
much the same manner 
as do the fig moth (Eph- 
estia cautella Walk.) 
and the Indian-meal 
moth (Plod la inter- 
punctella Hbn.), form- 
ing a still stronger 
thread than do these re- 
lated forms, and mat- 
ting the infested ma- 
terial more closely. In- 
deed, this thread or webbing in the case of powdered cocoa becomes 
so dense that in close quarters the moths when emerging are scarcely 
able to make their exit. As a consequence of this and of the further 
fact that the food supply becomes too dry to be eaten, many of the 
larvse perish. This is true not only under artificial conditions in the 
laboratory but has been noted in manufacturers' storerooms. 
DESCRIPTIVE. 
Fig. 1. — Diagram showing wing venation of the rice moth 
(Corcyra cephalonica) . (After Durrant and Bever- 
idge.) 
THE MOTH. 
While, as previously stated, the rice moth resembles in certain re- 
spects some of our common moths which breed in stored cereals, 
dried fruits, and similar material, it does not belong to the same lepi- 
dopterous group, being a member of a different family, the Pyrali- 
dae, and subfamily, the Galleriinae, and closely related to a small 
group of moths which are best known as occurring in the combs of 
