The Larvae of the Lepidoptera associated with stored Products

Abstract

During the last year, while I was engaged in work on stored product pests for the Infestation Branch of the Ministry of Food, the necessity arose for identifying Lepidopterous larvae damaging stored food. It was soon found that with few exceptions the available descriptions of these larvae are quite inadequate, as they are usually based entirely on colour, and it became necessary to employ more precise methods. The arrangement of the setae (chaetotaxy) together with other structural characters proved to be reliable for distinguishing the species. By these means those concerned should be able to identify without undue difficulty most of the moth larvae they are likely to encounter. Altogether 35 out of some 70 species which have been found associated with stored products in all parts of the world, can be positively identified by means of the keys and descriptions given in this paper. These 35 species include all the more important British ones and seven which have not yet been recorded in Britain, viz. : Celama sorghiella (Riley), Cryptoblabes gnidiella (Mill.), Acrobasis caryae, Grote, A. juglandis (Le Baron), Etiella zinckenella (Treit.), Pyroderces rileyi (Wals.), and Anchonoma xeraula, Meyr.The data concerning the distribution have been supplied by Dr. A. Steven Corbet and Mr. W. H. T. Tarns and are based on authentic material in the British Museum. The order in which the families and lower systematic categories are arranged in the keys and descriptions is governed only by convenience and not by phylogenetic considerations, e.g., the most primitive family, Tineidae, is dealt with last.