356 INSECTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



worms, or caterpillars belonging to the tribe of Tineae, gnaw 

 holes or winding paths in the substances wherein they live. 

 Some of the fragments they devour, and the rest they fasten to- 

 gether, with a few r silken threads, so as to shelter or clothe their 

 tender bodies. With these materials some of them make cylin- 

 drical burrows, through which they can move freely, and carry 

 on the work of destruction unseen ; and others, with the same, 

 shape for themselves various kinds of pods or cases, large enough 

 to cover their bodies entirely when they are at rest, and so light 

 that they can bear them about on their backs, as snails do their 

 shells. Some moth-worms are dark colored ; but most of them 

 are of a dirty white color, with a brownish head, and a brown 

 spot on the top of the first ring. They are either wholly naked, 

 or have only a few short hairs thinly scattered over the surface 

 of their bodies. They generally have sixteen legs. Some, how- 

 ever, want the first pair of prop-legs, having only fourteen in all. 

 They undergo their transformations in the burrows or cases that 

 have served them for habitations, either with or without the addi- 

 tional covering of a cocoon spun within their places of abode. 

 The chrysalids are of a brown color, and are rather more slen- 

 der than those of other moths. In the winged state they vary 

 greatly both in form and color. They all agree, however, in 

 having the wings long and narrow, and folded or wrapped 

 around the body, more or less closely, when they are at rest. 

 Their antennae are bristle-shaped, and very rarely feathered in 

 either sex. Some of them have four feelers, others only two ; 

 and the spiral tongue is short. Most of these winged moths 

 are very small ; indeed, the least of the Lepidoptera belong to 

 this tribe. They have been divided by some naturalists into 

 two, and by others into three groups, namely, Crambidcc, Ypono- 

 meatadce, and Tinccuhe, the differences between which it is not 

 necessary particularly to notice in this place. 



Some moth-worms burrow into leaves, and make winding pas- 

 sages in the pulpy substance thereof, under the skin ; some bore 

 into the stems of plants ; and a few are found only on the sur- 

 face of leaves, or on roots. Living plants, however, form but a 

 small part of the food of the Tineae, most of which subsist on 

 other substances ; and, for this reason, they would have been 



