374 



The Moths and Butterflies 



Among the Frenata? there is a host of small obscure moths commonly 

 lumped by collectors and amateurs under the name Microlepidoptera, which 



arc little known because little 

 studied, but which professional 

 entomologists recognize as in- 

 cluding all together eleven moth 

 families grouped into three dis- 

 tinct superfamilies. Among these 

 microlepido])tera are probably the 

 most generalized of the frenate 

 moths. 



The three microlepidopterous 

 superfamilies are the Tineina, 



Fig. 529. 



Fig. 530. 



Fig. 529. — The palmer-worm moth, Y psolo'phus 



pomalellus. (After Fitch; twice natural 



size.) 

 Fig 530. — The strawbcrrv root-borer, Anarsia including ihe clothes-moths, leaf- 



lineatella. (After Saunders; moth and larva miners, and Others, the Tortri- 



both natural size and enlarged.) 



cina, includmg most of the leaf- 

 rollers, the notorious codlin-moth and others, and the Pyralidina, including 

 certain leaf-rollers and folders, the close-wings, the curious plume-moths, the 

 injurious meal-moths, and the bee-moth, principal pe.st of the bee-keeper. 



The Tineidie, only family of the Tineina, are best known by their house- 

 hold representatives, the clothes-moths. Of these there are several species, 

 the moths themselves looking much alike, although distingufshed by some 

 differences in marking, but the larva", the stage in which the injur)- to woolens, 

 etc., is done having noticeable differences in habit. The moths lay their 

 eggs on garments and stuffs, preferably woolen, hanging in dark closets or 

 stored in trunks or dressers, and the small white larva; feed on the dry 

 animal fibers of which the cloth is made. The larva of the most famihar 

 species, the case-bearing clothes-moth. Tinea peUioticUa (Fig. 527), makes 

 a .small free tubular case out of bits of cloth fibers held together by silk spun 

 from its mouth; the larva of the tapestr\--moth T. iapetzeUa, a rarer species, 

 attacks thick woolen things, as blankets, carpets, and hangings, burrowing 

 into the fabric and forming a long winding tunnel or gallery partially lined 

 with silk; the larva of the webbing clothes-moth. Tinea biselliella, a species 

 especially common in the Southern States, although not infrequent in the 

 North, spins no case or gallery, but makes a cobweb covering over the 

 substance it is feeding on. The larva; of all the species, when ready to 

 pupate, make a cocoon out of bits of woolen tied together by silken threads 

 in which to transform. The moths, on issuing, rest during the day on the 

 garments 01 stuffs, but fly about at night, often coming to the lights in 

 rooms. They are all small, peUionella and biselliella expanding about ^ 

 inch and lapelzella f inch; peUionella has grayish-yellow fore wings with- 

 out spots, and lapelzella has the fore wings black at base and creamy- 



