222 SCHOOL ENTOMOLOGY 



Clothes moths are usually injurious only when articles 

 are put away and left for some time. Articles in use are 

 rarely attacked. Exposing stored articles to air and sun- 

 light, with a vigorous brushing and shaking are old methods 

 of moth control. Moth balls, naphthalene, cedar chips, 

 and other repellents are often used and are more or less 

 effective if the materials are free from the moths when 

 stored. The best means of preventing injury is to see that 

 articles to be stored are placed in tight receptacles which are 

 "moth-proof." The heavy paper bags sold by clothiers 

 for this purpose are satisfactory. Large, heavy, paste- 

 board boxes may be secured very cheaply and after packing 

 away the winter clothing in them, the cracks may be sealed 

 by gumming a strip of wrapping paper over them, thus 

 making the boxes moth-tight. Infested articles which must 

 be returned to storage may be fumigated with carbon bisul- 

 phide, by placing them in a trunk, and trunks or closets 

 harboring the moths should be fumigated with the same 

 material. For the protection of valuable furs and woolens, 

 furriers are now making use of cold-storage, which entirely 

 prevents the development of insect pests. 



131. The Carpet Beetle.* The adult carpet beetle is a 

 small, oval, blackish beetle, about one-eighth of an inch 

 long, mottled with grayish-white, having the inner margin 

 of each wing-cover, where the wing-covers meet on the back, 

 marked with a narrow red line from which three short pro- 

 jections extend laterally. The beetles are most commonly 

 noticed in the spring, when they will fly to the windows if 

 they have developed in the house. Out of doors they are 

 found on the blossoms of spiraea and other plants, where 

 they feed upon the pollen. The small whitish eggs are laid 

 upon the cloth or other material upon which the larvae will 



* Anthrenus scrophularice Linn. Family Dermestidce, see page 113. 



