DORSET CLOTHES-MOTHS AXD THEIR HABITS. 145 



leaves its food and crawls up and attaches itself to the wall of a 

 room, where its case may be seen hanging on long after the moth 

 has emerged. 



I do not know the larva of Tinea fuscipunctella, Hw., the next 

 species on my list, but it is said to feed in a case of " dry refuse." 

 Probably this means " hay refuse " and the rubbish one finds in a 

 farm stable, for it is there that I have generally found it in the 

 greatest numbers. If it does feed on clothes, of which I have no 

 evidence, it is certainly not a troublesome species. It is generally 

 looked upon as one of the clothes-moths, but I think it is a case of 

 " birds of a feather " rather than a proved fact, the moth being a 

 good deal like a handsome, well-marked pellionella. 



Tinea pallescentella, Sta., I have already alluded to as occurring 

 under the old Ferry Bridge at Portland, and feeding there probably 

 on fish refuse. I must confess that I have not found the larva, 

 which might perhaps be a difficult task as the moth is not very 

 abundant, and now that the old bridge is replaced by a new one, I 

 doubt if even the moth will appear there any more. But I find 

 that it also occurs under the railway bridge, in the inmost recesses, 

 and this would suggest that it might feed on rotten wood, as fish- 

 baskets are not kept there as they were under the road bridge. It 

 has been bred from grain and I have a remembrance of a note of its 

 feeding on old bits of leather, but cannot find the reference at 

 present. It is on the strength of this that I include it in my list 

 and also because it is, I think, usually, but perhaps without 

 foundation, suspected of being a true clothes-moth. 



Tinea lapella, Hb. (ganomella, Tr.) and the much rarer and very 

 beautiful Tinea semifulvella, Hw., have both been bred from birds' 

 nests, the former commonly, where they feed on the wool, &c., 

 contained in them, but though I once found a semifulvella in my 

 house I never heard of either species attacking clothes or any 

 other household woollen or fur material. I should be only too 

 pleased to find a brood of semifulvella in the carpet. 



In connection with these species I may allude to the time when 

 the people in this country lived a less luxurious life than at 



