336 THE TINEINA. 



than as a dwelling, none present a more singular 

 instinct than the caterpillar of one of the common 

 Clothes Moths, Tinea pellionella. This caterpillar, 

 which feeds upon a variety of dry animal substances, 

 such as woollen cloth, furs, feathers, &c., constructs 

 a little tubular case for itself of fragments of the ma- 

 terial upon which it is feeding, joining these together 

 with silk in such a fashion as to make a tolerably 

 compact cloth. As the creature grows, instead of 

 quitting its case to form a new one, it acts with its 

 single garment as some economical mothers do with 

 those of their growing children, adding pieces on at the 

 ends, and enlarging its diameter by the insertion of a 

 strip of fresh materials on each side. The mode in 

 which the latter operation is effected is very ingenious, 

 for the caterpillar, which appears to have such an 

 insuperable horror of nakedness, that when deprived 

 of its tunic it will not feed until it has provided itself 

 with a new one, to avoid too great an exposure of its 

 bare skin, first slits the case about half-way down on 

 each side, and when these openings are filled up, 

 proceeds to the other end of the case and enlarges 

 this in the same way. These weaving and tailoring 

 operations on a very small scale may be best traced 

 by shifting two or three caterpillars from their ori- 

 ginal position to pieces of cloth of different colours, 

 when the additions will, of course, exhibit the colour 

 of the material on which the insect was living when 

 they were made. Curious as these habits are, I am 

 afraid that few careful housewives will allow the con- 

 sideration even of such an interesting illustration of 

 instinct to console them for the ravages which the 

 little artificers undoubtedly commit upon many of 

 their household treasures, and it must be confessed 



