Tineidae 339 



piece of dark cloth ready and throw it over the carton as soon as the 

 cover is removed. Adults will hide in the folds of this second cloth 

 as well as in those of the cloth already in the carton. If the folds of the 

 two cloths are turned back slowly and carefully, a number of adults 

 may be caught in a few minutes. 



It has been found that larvae are more easily removed from small 

 containers than from large ones. The half-pint size, commonly used at 

 stores for cottage cheese and ice cream, is just about right for this pur- 

 pose. Several pieces of flannel, on which eggs have been laid, are placed 

 in one of these small containers, each piece of flannel being sprinkled 

 lightly with fish meal. The larvae get enough to eat but cannot bury 

 themselves in a thick layer of meal such as is put in the large containers. 

 By using a number of these small containers, one can keep on hand 

 a supply of larvae of any age desired. 



Adults are difficult to catch in the small containers, since they have 

 no place in which to hide and can so easily escape. For rearing adults 

 it is advisable to use the gallon size and black cloth. Hence at Ithaca 

 both the large and small containers are in constant use. 



In the summer of 1933 some of our containers became infested with 

 predacious mites. Although the point was never proved, mites were 

 probably carried from old containers to new ones on the bodies of adult 

 moths. It therefore appeared advisable to start new colonies with eggs 

 instead of with adults. 



To get a supply of eggs, moths are placed in a glass jar or vial with 

 pieces of flannel. Each day fresh flannel is put in and the pieces on 

 which eggs have been laid are removed. If the flannel is cut into squares, 

 about 3x3 inches, the pieces are easy to examine under a binocular 

 microscope, and any mites present may be removed. The gallon card- 

 board containers are prepared as explained above. After examination 

 under a binocular, the pieces of flannel, on which the eggs have been laid, 

 are placed on the layer of fish meal in the bottom of the container. Each 

 piece of flannel is sprinkled lightly with some of the fish meal before 

 another piece is added. Since this method of starting new colonies was 

 adopted, no further trouble with mites has been experienced. 



By this method literally hundreds of clothes moths may be reared in 

 a very small space. At the Cornell Insectary, one or two large cartons 

 and several small ones are infested each month, in order to insure an 

 adequate supply of insects for all needs that may arise. Just how long 

 an infestation will keep itself going, has not yet been determined. If 

 a little fresh fish meal is occasionally added to each container, it seems 

 probable that the various colonies will maintain themselves for a con- 

 siderable period of time. 



Although the method was developed for breeding the webbing clothes 



