ENTOMOLOGY IN OUTLINE — LEPIDOPTERA. 81 



The family Pyralidse includes moths generally of small size, some so 

 small in fact as to be classed as micro-lepidoptera. It has been divided 

 into a great number of subfamilies, genera, and species, so that it would 

 be impossible in a limited space even to mention them all. It contains, 

 however, a number of species injurious to plants, among them the leaf- 

 crumplers, leaf-rollers, case-bearers, and several fruit-worms. 



In the family PyralidaB, and subfamily Galleriina?, we find that pest 

 of the bee men, the bee-moth {Galleria mellonella) . This pest is 

 described by Prof. C. V. Riley as follows: "During the daytime these 

 moths remain quietly ensconced in some angle of the hive, but as night 

 approaches they become active, and the female uses her best endeavors 

 to get into the hive, her object being to deposit her eggs in as favorable 

 a place as possible. Wire gauze contrivances are of no avail to keep 

 her out, as she frequently commences flying before all the bees have 

 ceased their work. But even if she were entirely prevented from enter- 

 ing the hive, she could yet deposit her eggs on the outside, or, by means 

 of her extensive ovipositor, thrust them in between the slightest joint 

 or crack, and the young worms hatching from them would readily 

 make their way into the hive. The moment the worm is hatched, it 

 commences spinning a silken tube for its protection, and this tube is 

 enlarged as it increases in size. The worm cuts its channels right 

 through the comb, feeding on the wax, and destroying the young bees 

 on its way. When full-grown, it creeps into a corner of the hive, or 

 under some ledge at the bottom, and forms a tough, white cocoon of 

 silk mingled with its own black excrement. In due time the moth 

 emerges from this cocoon. A worm-infested hive may generally be 

 known by the discouraged aspect which the bees present, and by the 

 bottom board being covered with pieces of bee-bread mixed with the 

 black, gunpowder-like excrement of the worm. * * * If a hive is 

 very badly infested with the worms, it is better to drive out the bees 

 and secure what honey and wax there may be left than to preserve it 

 as a moth breeder to infest the apiary. If put into a new hive, the 

 bees may do something; and if they do not, there is no loss, as they 

 would have perished, finally, from the ravages of the worm." 



The family Pterophoridse includes those graceful, elegant little moths 

 commonly known as plume-moths, from the fact that their wings are 

 divided in such a manner as to suggest feathers. Sixty species are 

 known in the United States. They are vegetable feeders, but do little 

 damage to fruit. 



The family Toptpicidse is so named from its habit of rolling up the 

 leaves of plants upon which the insects feed, and on this account they 

 have received the common name of " leaf-rollers." It must be remem- 

 bered, however, that not all leaf-rollers belong to this family, nor are 

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