Fig. 33.—The fig-moth (Ephestia cautella). a, Moth with expanded wings; b, denuded wings showing venation; c, larva, full grown, dorsal view; d, two egg masses, a, b, c, About four times natural size; d, more enlarged.
in Egypt and the Near East. In ‘The Minor Horrors of War,’ I described a species of moth, Ephestia kühniella, a member of the family Pyralidae, which infests and destroys Army biscuits; but this other species, E. cautella, which attacks figs, is even more troublesome than the one described in the above-mentioned book.[14]
Whoever has attentively eaten dried figs must from time to time have become aware that there is something very defective in their flavour, and on close inspection little clusters of débris will be observed on the outside of the dried fruit—the dejecta of the larva burrowing within—and numerous round holes can be detected through which the larvae have made their entrance. If cut open and carefully examined, one or two small white grubs may be found, which give the fig a singularly sour-bitter and most unpleasant taste. This is the larva of the moth, Ephestia cautella which has for the last four or five years been attracting much attention in the Levant market. From 15 to 50 per cent. of the figs exported from Smyrna, the great centre of the fig-trade, are infected with this ‘worm,’ and active steps were being taken before the War spread to the Near East to check its ravages. The moth itself is very like E. kühniella, but readily distinguished by an entomologist. Originally, it seems to have come from Asiatic Turkey, but by the aid of commerce it has been distributed in a broad belt all round the world within certain limits of temperature. Wide as its distribution now is, it is equally catholic in its tastes. Perhaps it does as much harm to the chocolate trade as to any other, attacking the cacao-bean as well as the prepared article; all sorts of nuts are infested. At one time it was thought that the oil of the nuts was the attraction, but the larvae flourish just as well on rice and bran, on dried apples, dried insects, maize, and a great variety of other more or less nutritive substances.
But to return to the figs. So serious was the trouble felt to be in the American fig-market that, in 1910, the authorities at Washington sent Mr. E. G. Smyth of the Bureau of Entomology to investigate the insect in Asia Minor, where the figs come from, and from his report the following account is taken:—
The manner of the fig-harvest is as follows: During August the figs are ripening on the trees, and are gradually dropping off to be collected from the ground and laid on strips of reeds, called ‘serghi,’ a yard broad; and here for two to five days they dry in the sun. When dried, they are packed in goats’-hair bags or woven willow baskets, and carried by horse or by camel to the fig-depots in the neighbouring villages. Here they are collected from the whole district, mixed together, and re-sacked for transmission by railroad to the coast. At Smyrna they are graded and prepared for the market: the better kind being either ‘layered’ or ‘pulled,’ whilst the inferior fruits are strung on strings or exported in the form of a mashed cake to make the ‘strawberry’ jam of the Western breakfast-table.
Fig. 34.—‘Serghi’ of reeds laid in long rows, used in large orchards. Over these the moths congregate by thousands at night.
Mr. Smyth’s object was first to find out at what stage the figs become infected by the moth, and then if possible to suggest preventive or remedial measures. He minutely investigated every stage in the preservation of figs, from the ripe fruit on the tree to the preserved figs in the hold on the steamer bound for New York, and the conclusion he came to is this: With very rare exceptions the eggs are never laid on the fruit whilst on the tree. The first and by far the most important infection is when the figs are gathered and exposed on the reed ‘serghi.’ Then about seven in the evening the moths begin to appear, and steadily increase in number as the evening wears on. The actual deposition of the ova cannot be observed, for the moths get down amongst the reeds and lay their eggs on the under surface of the fruit—usually in some crack or abrasion—so that the newly hatched larva can more easily make an entrance into the fig. From some ‘counts’ made at Tchifte Kaive it appears that after an exposure of one night 29 per cent. of figs were infested, after two nights 38·5 per cent., and after three nights 44·5 per cent.
