10 
THE FIG MOTH. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES. 
Before proceeding to the description of the fig moth it should be 
stated that according to recent classification it belongs to the lepidop- 
terous family Pyralidae and subfamily Phycitinae. Some writers 
give this subfamily full family rank and therefore call it Phycitidse. 
As to nomenclature, the species is now recognized as Ephestia 
cautella Walk., with the following synonyms: cahiritella Zell., pas- 
sidella Barr., and desuetella Walk. 
CHARACTERS OF THE MOTH. 
This moth looks suspiciously like the congeneric Ephestia kueh- 
niella Zell., the Mediterranean flour moth, and like E. elutella Hiibn., 
as will be noticed by reference to the illustration (fig. 1), being of 
Fig. 1. — The fig moth (Ephestia cautella) : a, Moth with 
expanded wings ; u, denuded wings, showing venation ; c, 
larva, full grown, dorsal view ; 0, two egg masses, a, b, c, 
About 4 times natural size; d, more enlarged. (Original.) 
Fig. 2. — The Mediterrane- 
an flour moth (Ephes- 
tia kuehniella) : Larva, 
dorsal view. (Author's 
illustration.) 
a similar gray color, but it may be readily known from the former 
by the strong subdorsal line of the cilia of the hind-wings. The 
markings of the fore-wings are much more suffused than in the other 
two species, and the line across the basal third is whitish, more nearly 
straight, and bordered by a prominent, dark, suffused band. In the 
others this line is irregularly dentate or zigzag. The color of the 
fore-wings varies, some individuals being fawn color with scarcely 
any dark markings, while Ohio and District of Columbia series are 
considerably darker than either kuehniella or elutella and in some 
cases are very strongly suffused with reddish scales. 
The following technical description of the moth is copied from 
Barrett : 3 ° 
a Numerals in superior type refer to corresponding numbers in the bibliographical list, 
p. 39. 
