ARTHROPOD A; '.;".', ^ 



101 



Every housekeeper knows that cloths, , and ; other ; ;wojol$ijL goods 

 that are in daily use are seldom if ever dairiaged and that frequent 

 vigorous shaking and brushing of clothes not in use prevents their 

 being eaten by moths; this means simply that the eggs, if they have 

 been deposited on the clothes by the winged adults, are brushed off 

 and destroyed before they have time to hatch into the feeding 

 caterpillars. 



The common method of putting away winter clothes in boxes 

 or closets with moth-balls or other strong-smelling substances will 

 be effective only if all eggs or larvae have been removed from the 

 clothes by vigorous brushing and shaking before putting into the box 



FIG. 78. The case-making clothes moth, Tinea pellionella; adult, larva, and larva in 

 case. (From Marlatt, The True Clothes Moth, after Riley.) 



The strong odor will probably keep the adults from coming through 

 the cracks into the box to lay their eggs, but if the eggs are already 

 there, they will probably hatch into the destructive larvae which will 

 not be affected by the smell. 



As the smell of naphthalene and other repellants is of ten disagreeably 

 persistent in clothes that have been so protected, it is well to know 

 that it is entirely unnecessary to use these substances if the clothes 

 be tightly wrapped in stout paper, after being thoroughly brushed. 

 For years the writer has, each spring, packed his winter clothes in the 

 pasteboard boxes used by tailors, and then tightly wrapped each box 

 in several thicknesses of newspapers, creasing all corners to prevent 

 the possible entry of the slender little moths. In no single case has 

 any damage been found on opening these boxes in the fall. The 



