324 



,-/yV ECONOMIC ENlOMOf.OGY. 



divergent scales, all of one height, giving somewhat the appear- 

 ance of a little plush cap. In their life habits they vary much. 

 Some are leaf-miners, living between the upper and under sur- 

 faces, and each species eating out characteristic galleries that are 

 visible as irregular brown lines or blotches. Others are case- 

 bearers, making little houses of various shapes and texture, 

 which they carry about with them, and in which they live, pro- 

 jecting the head and anterior segments jiist far enough to feed, 



Fig. 373. 



Apple case-bearer, Coleophora nialivorrlla. — a, lar\al cases; b, larva; c, pupa, 

 rf, aclult nicilb. 



but retreating at the first signs of disturbance. A few feed openlv, 

 while others are borers in fruits, seeds, or even twigs. 



Among the best known are the "clothes moths,"- — little, yel- 

 lowish creatures often seen flying in houses early in the evening, 

 and which generally arouse excitement and resentment in the 

 breast of the careful housekeeper, for she knows that her woollens 

 and furs are in danger. The caterpillars feed upon animal tex- 

 tiles of all kinds, and upon furs and feathers. Thev do not often 

 attack vegetable fibre like cotton or linen. Their habit is to 

 form a little flattened case of fibres from the material upon which 

 they are feeding, and this is lined on the inner side with silk. In 

 about three weeks the larva is full fed, changes to a pupa within 

 its case, and the moth, when it emerges, leaves the empty shell 

 protruding for half its length. There are several species engaged 



