55 



fragments of the material it is destroying ; but it spins a more or less complete silken 

 tube through the hair when attacking fur. 



Although the moths appear throughout the summer, it is stated that there is in the 

 north only one brood in the year, but I think this can hardly be the case, and, although 

 I have this season failed in rearing the young caterpillar from the egg, a brood hatched 

 early in June contained some specimens which were 4.50 mm. by the middle of August, 

 when the whole of them died without any apparent cause ; and the perfect insects were 

 to be found flying from the month of May until September the 28th. The caterpillar 

 attains full growth in autumn, when it builds for itself a close cocoon in which it remains 

 unchanged until spring For this purpose it occasionally takes other materials than 

 those it has been feeding on. I have one cocoon composed of asbestos fibres which were 

 in a drawer with some paint brushes that had been destroyed, but the asbestos fibre aibne 

 had been used in the formation of the cocoon. Another cocoon is composed of fibres of 

 cotton wadding and the caterpillar bad apparently subsisted almost entirely upon the 

 gummy coating with which the surface of the wadding had been dressed. 



Tinea pellionella is thought by Prof. Riley to be the commoner species in northern 

 regions, but this has not been my experience. In fact, it has only been sent to me from 

 Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and on one occasion from Toronto. In this latter case, it 

 had certainly been recently imported from England. In Prof. Riley's interesting account- 

 in Insect Life, its habits are 

 thus briefly described : " The 

 small light brown moths dis- 

 tinguished, as shown at Fig. 

 33 by the darker spots at 

 intervals on the wings, begin 

 to appear in May, and are 

 frequently seen flitting about 

 as late as August. They pair, 

 and the female then searches 

 for suitable places for the de- 

 position of her eggs, working 

 her way into dark corners and 

 deep into the folds of garments, 

 apparently choosing by in- 

 stinct the least conspicuous 

 places. From these eggs hatch 



the white soft-bodied larvae (Fig. 33,), each of which begins immediately to make a case 

 for itself from the fragments of the cloth upon which it feeds. The cases are in the 

 shape of a hollow roll or cylinder, and the interior is lined with silk. As they grow, 

 they enlarge these cases by adding material to either end and by inserting gores down 

 the sides which they slit open for the purpose. The larva reaches its full growth toward 

 ■winter and then, crawling into some yet more protected spot, remains there torpid 

 through the winter within its case, which is at this time thickened and fastened at either 

 end with silk. I have known these larvse in autumn to leave the carpet upon which they 

 had fed, drag their heavy cases up a 15-foot wall and fasten them in the angle of the 

 cornice of the ceiling. The transformation to pupa takes place within the case the 

 following spring. The heat of a dwelling-house does not seem to afiect the development of 

 the pupa?, but the caterpillars remain unchanged till spring even in a highly heated oflice." 



With the exception of the differemie in making their cases, the habits and injuries of 

 these species are very similar, and the same remedies will apply for both. A most 

 interesting experiment, demonstrating the manner in which the case of T. pellionella is 

 made, can be tried by providing the young caterpillars with different colored materials 

 for making their cases. I have cases showing rings formed from scarlet and black wool, 

 blue peacock's feathers and white lamb's wool. 



Perhaps the most remarkable result of the work of any insect which has ever come 

 under my notice, was a piece of a pillow-case which was sent to me by Miss Lucy 0. 

 Eaton, of Truro, Nova Scotia. The specimen at first sight has the appearance of beau- 



Fig. 33.— Tinea pellionella — enlarged. — adult ; 

 in case (after Riley). 



larva ; larva 



