CLOTHES MOTHS AND OTHER TINE^ 97 



mission, the propagation of its species. Its methods 

 of locomotion are twofold : with its four glossy and 

 beautifully fringed wings it can fly tolerably well ; but 

 with its six long- jointed legs it can also run rapidly, 

 carrying its wings close alongside its body, and vibrating 

 its antennae with an incessant tremor indicative of the 

 excitement which now thrills through its little frame. 

 It needs no food, and indeed there is probably nothing 

 within reach that could serve it as such ; for the gross 

 aliment which delighted it when a grovelling grub, pos- 

 sesses no charms for it in its higher state of existence ; 

 and indeed, were its tastes to tend in that direction, it 

 could not gratify them, for, like the rest of its order, it 

 has no jaws wherewith to reduce the tough fibres of 

 cloth ; and even the usual flexible maxillae, the two long 

 coils which form the sucking apparatus of moths for 

 imbibing honey, are present only in a rudimentary con- 

 dition, as is the case throughout the genus Tinea. Its 

 sole business, therefore, is to get mated, lay its eggs, 

 and die. 



As might be expected, the eggs are extremely minute, 

 and they are carefully deposited by the mother on the 

 cloth, or in crevices and corners close to a supply of food. 

 The young grubs hatched from these soon manifest their 

 tailoring propensities, but they seem, at this early stage, 

 to prefer secondhand garments, or rather shoddy, to an 

 entirely new "rig out." In other words, they attack 

 the old cases of their progenitors, which are sure to be 

 lying about in plenty, and by cutting up these larger 

 garments, manage to make some respectable coverings 

 for their own tiny forms. The filaments of wool and fur 

 which have been submitted to the action of the more 

 powerful jaws of their adult ancestors are in a more 

 manageable condition for the weaker weapons of the 



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