146 TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 



larvcTR, according to Mr. Stainton, who has made this group his 

 especial study, vary excessively in the number of legs ; sixteen 

 is the usual number, but in several genera fourteen only are 

 found ; in the genus Hcpticula they number eighteen, and on the 

 other hand, some other larvae are legless or apodal. The habits 

 of the larvae vary also ; some feed in the open air, others in 

 rolled up leaves, others are miners, some case bearers, and some 

 feed upon clothes, or on the lining of sofas. (Stainton.) 



Many naturalists have observed that the species of Solenobia, 

 one of the TincidcE, have a most exceptional power of repro- 

 duction. The maiden females of the genus lay eggs which 

 can be hatched so as to produce larvae, and a naturalist may breed 

 a species for years without seeing a male Solenobia. This extra- 

 ordinary fact is not without parallel amongst the Lcpidoptera, as 

 will be noticed at the end of this chapter, and it is common 

 amongst the bees and Aphides, or plant-lice. 



Many of the Tineida; do a great deal of mischief in houses, 

 to clothes, carpets, household stuffs, and feathers ; for the larvae, 

 which have soft integuments, have the instinct to clothe them- 

 selves artistically, but at our expense. Tinea tapetzella is one 

 of the most destructive species, for the little caterpillar constructs 

 a protecting tube, which is almost cylindrical in shape, out of the 

 fibres and small pieces of the stuff it delights to gnaw. As the 

 caterpillar |grows the case becomes too small, so the insect 

 enlarges its home by adding some threads to both of the ends, 

 and a very harlequin appearance may be given to the tube if 

 differently coloured stuffs are placed in the way of the little 

 tube-maker from time to time. The caterpillar closes one end 

 of the case, and hangs it up before becoming metamorphosed 

 into a chrysalis ; but the insect turns in the tube before the 

 transformation, and keeps its head turned towards the open 

 and unattached termination. The moth comes out, therefore, 

 easily enough. 



Tinea pellionella makes a case with silk and small pieces of 



hair or fur all cut to the same size, and does a great deal of 



mischief to furriers' stores ; and Tinea crinella attacks skins, 



feathers, and horse-hair, doing an infinitude of harm to furniture. 



There is a Tinea that lives in cereals when the grain is stored 



