266 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



pears as if provided with the cap of invisibility. This moth is searching 



for a place to lay its eggs, and prefers for this purpose articles of wool or 



feathers. The moth itself is utterly incapable of 



doing any damage ; but the larva which hatches 



from the eggs works havoc with our carpets and 



clothing. It eats the wool, and then when ready 



to change to the pupal condition, one form makes 



a cocoon of the fibres, and in this it goes through 



its changes, emerging as the perfect insect from 



June to August. 



An allied moth, the grain-moth, is illustrated 

 in our next cut. Like the preceding it is a native 

 of Europe ; but it has followed man to all parts 

 of the earth. Its history is but little different fig. 259. — Grain-moth (Tinea 

 from that already detailed, except that it feeds on tested grain, and' pup^,' en- 

 wheat stored in granaries, as well as in the field! 



Wormy apples are caused by a different 

 style of moth, scarcely larger than that just 

 mentioned, but differing in many points of 

 structure. This form, the coddling-moth, is 

 a small gray insect, which lays its eggs on 

 the young apples just as they are beginning 

 to form. The larva eats its way to the core, 

 and there waxes and grows fat. Its ravages 

 usually cause the fruit to ripen prematurely 

 and to fall to the ground, where the larva 

 crawls out, and, seeking some sheltered place, 

 spins its cocoon, where it spends the winter, 

 emerging in the spring as the perfect insect, 

 ready for the new crop of apples. If cattle 

 or hogs are allowed to roam in the orchard, 

 they will eat the wormy apples as fast as they 

 fall, and as a result the fruit the next year 

 will be comparatively free from worms. 



The coddling-moth is a member of a group 

 of moths which are called tortricids, from 

 the habit which many of the larvae have of 

 rolling or twisting up leaves to provide pro- 

 tection for their cocoons. Of these leaf-twist- 

 ers each species has its peculiar way of doing this, and the entomologist, on 

 seeing one of the nests, knows at once the moth which later will emerge 



Fig. 260.— Willow-leaves, rolled and held 

 by a caterpillar, in order to form a nest 

 for pupating. 



