612 



AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY 



^d^ 



Fig. 747.- 

 Spuler.) 



Wings of Tinea parasitella. (After 



The labial palpi are short and clothed with but three or four bristles. 

 In the typical genera the venation of the wings is quite generaHzed 

 (Fig. 747), the base 



of media being pre- ^^ /P^ y^ 



served in both fore ^ 



and hind wings and 

 all of the veins char- 

 acteristic of the 

 Frenatse being pres- 

 ent ; but in other gen- 

 era the venation is 

 somewhat reduced. 



Many of the larvae 

 are case-bearers; 

 many are scavengers 

 or feed on fungi ; some 

 feed on fabrics, espe- 

 cially those that con- 

 tain much wool; few 

 if any feed on leaves. 



This is a large family. More than one hundred twenty-five North 

 American species are already known; fifty of these belong to the 

 genus Tinea. To this family belong the well-known clothes-moths. 



The naked clothes-moth, Tineola hisselliella. — This is our most 

 common clothes-moth. Although the larva spins some silk wherever 

 it goes, it makes neither a case nor a gallery; it is, therefore, named 

 the naked clothes-moth. But when the larva is full-grown it makes 

 a cocoon, which is composed of fragments of its food-material fas- 

 tened together with silk. The adult is a tiny moth with a wing- 

 expanse of from 12 to 16 mm. ; it is of a delicate straw-color, without 

 dark spots on its wings. 



The case-bearing clothes-moth, Tmea pellionella. — The larva of 

 this species is a true case-bearer, making a case out of bits of its 

 food-material fastened together with silk. The case is a nearly cylin- 

 drical tube open at both ends. The pupa state is passed within the 

 case. The adult is a small, silky, brown moth, with three dark spots 

 on each fore wing. It expands from 11 to 17 mm. 



The tube-building clothes-moth or the tapestry-moth, Trichoph- 

 aga tapetiella. — The larva of this species makes a gallery composed 

 of silk mixed with fragments of cloth. This gallery is long and wind- 

 ing and can be easily distinguished from the case of the preceding 

 species. The pupa state is passed within the gallery. The moth 

 differs greatly in appearance from the other two species, the fore 

 wings being black from the base to near the middle, and white be- 

 yond. It expands from 12 to 24 mm. 



