190 



ELEMENTARY ENTOMOLOGY 



silk-lined galleries, destroying the combs. They attack weak colo- 

 nies of bees, which they frequently destroy, and are one of the 

 worst enemies of the apiary. The moth has purplish-brown fore- 

 wings and brown 

 or faded yellow 

 hind-wings. 



The close-wings 

 (Crambinae) are 

 so called because 

 their wings are 

 wrapped closely 

 about them when 

 at rest. They are 

 also called snout- 

 moths. They are 

 the small brown- 



FIG. 297. A crambid moth (Crambus vulgivagellns] ^ll or Sllvery- 



a, larva; b, overground, and c, underground, tube and cocoon; WHltC mOtHS WulCn 

 it, e, f. moths with wings open and at rest ; ..-, egg much enlarged. fly U p bef Ol'C US 



(After Riley) 



in pastures and 



are scarcely distinguishable from the grass stems on which they 

 alight. The larvae feed on the roots and stalks of grasses, living 

 in little tubes constructed of bits of earth and vegetation fastened 

 together with silk. Several spe- 

 cies are sometimes quite injurious 

 to young corn planted on land 

 where they have been abundant, 

 the most common being known 

 as the corn-root web-worm. 



Two other families of this group 

 are known as plume-moths (Ptcro- 

 phoridac and Orucodidac], as the 

 wings are split into parts looking 

 like a small fan of feathers. The 

 larvae of one species occasionally 

 webs up the terminals of young grape shoots, and another species 

 is sometimes common on sweet-potato vines, but they are rarely 

 of economic importance. 



FIG. 



\ 



298. A California plume- 

 moth. (Natural size) 



(After Kellogg) 



