INSECTS AND HUMAN WEALTH 



415 



valuable materials. Yet their presence in a house is an iiadica- 

 tion that there are crumbs and other scraps of food about, and 

 it is perhaps as well for the cockroaches to eat these as for 



a b c 



Fig. 216. The flour moth {Epkestia kuehniella) 

 a, larva ; b, pupa ; c, adult. ( X 2) 



some more objectionable animals to do so. On the other hand, 

 they may become a serious menace, in the course of their 

 wanderings, since they may carry disease germs to the food. 



h c d 



Fig. 217. The buffalo moth 



This insect {Antkrentts scrophulariae) is a beetle, but is commonly called a moth because 



it injures furs and rugs in a manner resembling that of the clothes moth, a, larva; 



b, pupa in larval skin ; c, pupa ; d, adult. (Greatly enlarged) 



Ants have been very destructive not only to food materials 

 but also to furniture, clothing, wooden utensils, and even to 

 wooden houses (Fig. 214). The Argentine ant was introduced 

 into this country in the early nineties at New Orleans, and 

 has been more destructive in southern parts of the country 

 than any of our native species. 



