CLOTHES MOTHS AND OTHER TINE^ loi 



cat, and observing that it contained larvse and pupae of 

 some moths, he kept it till the perfect insects appeared. 

 Many of these turned out to be T. rusticella. In its 

 natural state, therefore, this insect is clearly a devourer 

 of animal refuse; in fact, one of nature's most useful 

 scavengers. And if we introduce animal matters, though 

 of far less objectionable character than these, into our 

 houses, we need not be surprised that sometimes the 

 scavenger follows them, intent upon the fulfilment of 

 its natural function. 



The caterpillar is, as usual, a whitish creature with 

 a brown head. The moth, which is about the size of 

 T. bweltiella, is dark greyish-brown on its fore-wings, 

 slightly tinged with purplish and minutely speckled 

 with yellowish dots. It has also a pale transparent spot 

 on the disc of the wing before the middle, and another 

 similar but smaller one at the outermost lower angle of 

 the wing. 



Various methods have been suggested for getting rid 

 of these pests; this, however, is hardly the place for 

 discussing the merits of rival insecticides. But there is 

 one ingenious method which, if not very practicable, is 

 yet so interesting that it must receive a passing notice. 

 It is well known that silkworms are a prey to a certain 

 disease called " muscardine," which arises from the 

 growth of a parasitic fungus. The idea occurred to 

 Balbiani, that if the larvse of clothes moths could be 

 inoculated with this disease, the result would be similar 

 to what it was amongst the silkworms : their numbers 

 would be rapidly diminished, and a benefit would thus 

 be conferred upon mankind. He accordingly reduced 

 the remains of some " rnuscardined " silkworms to a 

 powder, and laid his trap by sprinkling this bait over 

 clothes infested with the destructive larvse. The grubs 



