io8 OUR HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



or richly adorned with the deepest velvety black, relieved 

 by spots and streaks of silvery white ; but, as usual, the 

 majority are more soberly clad in drabs, greys, and 

 browns. 



To the ordinary observer, no doubt the most familiar 

 species is the "meal-moth," Pyralis farinalis (Fig. 31). 

 This is a very pretty little insect, 

 measuring about an inch in ex- 

 panse of wings, though specimens 

 are frequently met with con- 

 siderably smaller. The actual 

 size is largely determined by the 



F IG . 3I .-MeaiMoth. amount and character of the 

 food that was available to the 



insect in its immature stages. If food is scarce or of an 

 inferior quality, the moth becomes small and stunted ; 

 but if rich and plentiful, a superior size and more sleek 

 appearance is sure to attest the fact. The dark patches 

 at the base and apex of the fore-wings are reddish-grey, 

 the colour being richest towards the upper edge of the 

 wing. Bounding the basal patch on its outer side and 

 the marginal one on its inner edge are two exquisitely 

 delicate wavy white lines, and then all the space between 

 these is of a rich yellowish-grey, slightly clouded below 

 with darker. The hind-wings are grey, and are crossed 

 by two wavy white lines, which appear like feebler con- 

 tinuations of those on the fore-wings, and a row of 

 distinct black dots at the inner edge of the marginal 

 fringe gives a pretty chequered appearance, and relieves 

 the monotony of the ground colour. 



The caterpillar is a pale, uninteresting-looking creature, 

 with reddish-brown head, and a hard, pale, reddish-brown 

 plate just behind the head, and another at the other end 

 of the body. In its gastronomic relations it is specially 



