DORSET CLOTHES-MOTHS AND THEIR HABITS. 143 



the fact that it has a large appetite and finds plenty of food in 

 them. The next place it invaded was a box-room in the house, 

 where I found, to my horror, one day several tapetzella moths 

 sitting about, and on investigation they were traced to an old piece 

 of felt, which was full of caterpillars and cocoons. In spite of 

 every precaution a few moths strayed about the house and 

 appeared in several rooms. I hope that I have now got rid of 

 them, but it is difficult to be certain. Their last known tenement 

 was a pair of fur boots. 



The larva of this species spins a very rough cocoon of silk mixed 

 with pieces of its food. There is fortunately but one brood in the 

 year, and that is, like all clothes-moths, somewhat irregular in its 

 time of appearance, Avhich takes place in early summer, the larvae 

 feeding most of the year. 



Tinea misella, Z., may be distinguished by the beautiful violet 

 gloss of its hind wings. It is a local species, and not as a rule very 

 common. It is said to feed on preserved skins, as well as dried 

 plant stems, fungi, rotten wood, manure, &c., but I can hardly call 

 it a clothes-moth, and never heard of it being a trouble to any 

 housewife. 



Tinea pellionella, L., is a small species which varies a good deal, 

 and has therefore received several names in its different forms. It 

 is a little brownish moth, with a blackish spot towards the tip of 

 the wing, and generally traces of two more between this and the 

 base : sometimes all these spots are very indistinct. Another 

 closely allied species, Tinea merdelia, Z., is about the same size 

 (the size varies a good deal in different specimens and the females 

 are occasionally much larger than the average) as pellioneJ.la, and 

 resembles it closely, except that it is much lighter in colour and 

 more silky looking. There is good reason to suppose that these are 

 forms of the same species, and as their structure, larvae, and 

 modes of life are, as far as I can see, exactly similar, and they 

 often occur together, I will treat them as one species for the 

 purposes of this paper. I should mention, however, that amongst 

 great numbers that I have bred I have only once found anything 



