235 



CHAPTER XII. 



CLOTHES-MOTH AND OTHER TENT-MAKING CATERPILLARS. - 

 LEAF AND BARK MINERS. 



are at least five different species of moths similar 

 -*- in manners and economy, the caterpillars of which feed 

 upon animal substances, such as furs, woollen cloths, silk, 

 leather, and, what to the naturalist is no less vexing, upon 

 the specimens of insects and other animals preserved in his 

 cabinet. The moths in question are of the family named 

 Tinea by entomologists, such as the tapestry-moth (Tinea 

 tapetzetla), the fur-moth (Tinea peUionella), the wool-moth 

 (Tinea vestianella), the cabinet-moth (Tinea destructor, 

 STEPHENS), &c. 



The moths themselves are, in the winged state, small and 

 well fitted for making their way through the most minute 

 hole or chink, so that it is scarcely possible to exclude them 

 by the closeness of a wardrobe or a cabinet.* If they 

 cannot effect an entrance when a drawer is out, or a door 

 open, they will contrive to glide through the key-hole ; and 

 if they once get in, it is no easy matter to dislodge or 

 destroy them, for they are exceedingly agile, and escape out 

 of sight in a moment. Moufet is of opinion that the ancients 

 possessed an effectual method of preserving stuffs from the 

 moth, because the robes of Servius Tullius were preserved 

 up to the death of Sejanus, a period of more than five 

 hundred years. On turning to Pliny to learn this secret, we 

 find him relating that stuff laid upon a coffin will be ever 

 after safe from moths; in the same way as a person once 

 stung by a scorpion will never afterwards be stung by a bee, 

 or a wasp, or a hornet ! Rhasis, again, says that cantharides 

 suspended in a house drive away moths ; and he adds that 



* See Fig. d, p. 238. 



