150 



ELEMENTARY STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE 



carpets for a time and use rugs in their stead. These 

 rugs will require frequent exposure to the sun. Where 

 the insects are quite general the carpets should be taken 

 up, thoroughly beaten, and carried out of doors, sprayed 

 with benzine, and allowed to air for several hours. 

 The benzine is a very volatile substance and highly in- 

 flammable, so that due care should be taken to keep 

 away from lighted substances while this work is being 

 carried on. The rooms themselves should be thor- 

 oughly swept and dusted, and the floors should be 

 washed with hot water. 



Tne Clothes Moth. A destructive insect among furs 

 and w r oolen fabrics is the well-known little clothes moth. 1 

 Fur and woolen garments are its favorites. In its at- 

 tacks upon these, possibly it has become the most gen- 

 erally known household pest. It does not confine its 

 attacks to the home alone, but is likewise to be found 

 in the dry -goods store. The moth is a little buff-colored 

 lepidopteron, being about three-quarters of an inch in 

 wing expanse. These moths in themselves are harmless. 

 Like the buffalo moth, however, the larva or caterpillar 

 is the one which commits the depredation. In the North 

 there is but one annual generation, the adults appear- 

 ing from June to August ; in the South we find there 

 are tw r o or even more broods annually. 



K 



The larva is a dull-white caterpillar, and is never 

 seen away from its movable case. (Fig. 120.) The 

 construction of this case is its first task. If it, desires 

 to change its position it thrusts out its head and thorax, 

 and by means of its thoracic leg drags itself to the de- 



1 Tinea pellionella. 



