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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 14

Life History

Life History.

The moth appears first towards the middle of May, and is seen flying towards dark in granaries, and warehouses, not only of corn but also of other commodities. It is about three-sevenths of an inch across the wings, and its body is less than half an inch in length. It is of a dull white colour with dark spots on the whitish wings. The female lays thirty or more eggs, yellowish, and so small that they cannot be seen without a glass. She places one or two upon single grains of corn-wheat, barley, oats, and rye. In the course of a fortnight tiny caterpillars with dark brown heads (No. 1.) come forth and attack the grain with their stout jaws. They are of a light buff colour with reddish heads, having thirteen segments, and are close upon one-third of an inch in length. They fasten several grains together with a kind of web. page 56 Sometimes heaps of corn that have been undisturbed for some time are covered with these grey webs, which Curtis believes are for their protection. In Kirby and Spence's Introduction to Entomology it is stated, "On visiting corn granaries at Bristol "we found the barley lying on the floors covered with a gauze "like tissue formed of the five silken threads spun by the larvæ "in traversing its surface." In due time the larvæ retire to chinks and holes in rafters, beams, and ceilings, and make cocoons covered with fine webs, and rest until the warmth of the spring sun tempts them forth. The larvae of this moth are frequently found in the fissures of the bark of oak trees and of fruit trees, from whence the perfect insects fly to the storehouses of grain.