184 TORTRIX. CLOTHES'-MOTHS ; PLUMED MOTHS. 



being so great, that when the branches of that tree are sharply 

 beaten, a complete shower of these moths is dislodged. And 

 another commits great havoc in our gardens, by eating the young 

 leaves and buds of the roses ; the caterpillar feeding within the 

 bud, from which, when disturbed, it lets itself down by a thread. 

 One of the most destructive insects of this family is the Tortrix 

 vitana (the Pyrale of French Entomologists) ; whose larvae com- 

 mit extensive ravages in the Vineyards of some parts of France, 

 where they occasionally appear in very large numbers, devouring 

 and tying together the leaves, and preventing the development 

 of the grapes, by surrounding them with the silken threads of 

 which they make their cocoons (Fig. 410). 



712. The family TINEID^E contains those little Moths, com- 

 monly termed Clothes' -Moths, whose larvae are so injurious to 

 woollen stuffs of every kind, as well as to furs, skins, feathers, 

 and other objects of natural history, upon which their voracity 

 is exercised. They use the same materials also for the construc- 

 tion of their moveable cases or sheaths ; which they enlarge with 

 the increasing size of their bodies, both by adding to their 

 extremities, and by slitting them along and inserting a new 

 piece, so as to increase their diameter. In these tubes they 

 undergo their metamorphoses, after closing the orifice with 

 silk. The larvae of the genus Galleria infest Bee-hives, feeding 

 upon honey, forming galleries in the honeycomb, and enveloping 

 the bees in their silken webs, sometimes to such an extent as to 

 destroy the community. 



713. The FISSIPENN.E, or Plumed Moths (Fig. 304) consti- 

 tute a small group, distinguished from all other Lepidoptera by 

 the singular division of the wing into branches or rays, of which 

 each pair has from two to six ; these are most beautifully 

 fringed at their edges, and much resemble the feathers of Birds. 

 They are composed of the nerves alone, without any intervening 

 membrane ; this last seeming to have been transformed into 

 the fringe. The Plumed Moths are of small size ; some of them 

 are diurnal and brightly-coloured; others are twilight-fliers, 

 and of a duller aspect. Some species have the power of folding 

 up the wings like a fan ; so that, when closed, they present the 

 appearance of a single broad ray. 



