102 OUR HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



ate of the fatal meal, developed the disease, and miser- 

 ably perished. The powder, however, was found to lose its 

 efficacy to some extent if kept for any length of time. 



These are all the insects that can fairly be called 

 "clothes moths;" but there are several other small 

 moths that occur in our houses, and, being general 

 feeders, are destructive in other ways, though they 

 are generally credited with designs upon our woollen 

 fabrics. Some of these belong to the same extensive 

 genus as the clothes moths proper, e.r/., Tinea ferrugi- 

 nella (very similar to rusticella, but smaller), fuscipunc- 

 tella (also somewhat similar, but without the transparent 

 spot), misella (yellowish -brown, with paler markings, 

 and two dark dots), and nigripunctella (yellowish, with 

 several blackish spots). Some of these occur not unfre- 

 quently, but others are rare. 



But there are two insects which greatly exceed in 

 numbers both these and most other household species, 

 and are often more abundant and universally distributed 

 than the clothes moths themselves. They are Endrosis 

 fenestrella and CEcqphora pseudo-spretella, both repre- 

 sentatives of a new and very extensive family of Tinece, 

 the G-elechidce. A glance is sufficient to show this ; for, 

 first, in rest, the wings lie flat along the back, instead 

 of by the sides, as in the Tineidce ; secondly, a hand- 

 lens shows that the head, instead of being crowned with 

 the erect, hair-like plumes of a Tineid, is covered, at any 

 rate in front, with broad, flat-lying scales, which suggest 

 the idea of their having been brushed over the forehead, 

 like the " fringe " of a modern English female ; and, 

 thirdly, there is a pair of enormously large curved palpi, 

 much longer than those of the Tineidce, pointing upwards 

 from beneath the head, like a pair of miniature bull's 

 horns. 



