CLOTHES MOTHS AND CORN MOTHS. 3^7 



that, as a general rule, the ladies have but too good 

 reason for their strong prejudice against " the Moth/^ 

 The little tailor above mentioned is not, however, the 

 only offender, for there are at least two other nearly 

 allied species which exhibit a similar predilection for 

 the same materials which constitute the food of the 

 caterpillar of the common Clothes Moth, but neither 

 of these have the ingenuity to construct a portable 

 case. One of these (the Tiriea biselliella) , indeed, 

 merely conceals itself iii the interior of the sub- 

 stances on which it is feeding, and usually manifests 

 a great liking for the horse-hair stuffing of chairs and 

 sofas, probably for the sake of the excellent conceal- 

 ment which they afford it; whilst the other [T, ta- 

 petzella) exhibits rather more ingenuity, feeding on 

 the surface of cloth, &c., concealed beneath a covered 

 gallery, formed in much the same way as the little 

 case of the Clothes Moth. The perfect insects of 

 these species occur in houses nearly all the year round, 

 but especially during the summer. 



The ravages of another species of the same genus, 

 the Corn Moth {2\ granella), are, however, of a far 

 more serious nature than those committed by all the 

 Clothes Moths put together. This Moth is found 

 abundantly m granaries in June and July, when it 

 lays its eggs upon the grains of corn, placing one or 

 two eggs upon each grain. The young larvse, when 

 hatched, eat their way into the interior of the grain, 

 and feed in concealment upon its substance ; but when 

 this portion of food is consumed, each larva unites 

 three or four grains together with a web, so as to 

 form a little habitation, in the interior of which it 

 feeds. When full-grown, and ready to undergo their 

 transformations, in the months of August and Sep- 



