120 



INSECTS. 



PEA-MOTH AND LARVA. 



on p. 119. In the allied pine-gall tortrix (R. resinella) the adult has dark 

 fore -wings, streaked and mottled with transverse silvery bars and blotches. 

 The larva feeds within the stem of the buds of the pine-needles, their ravages 

 causing a drop of resin to exude from the twig which grows larger as the 

 activities of the internal burrower increase. If the drop of resin be examined 

 a small passage at the base will be found passing into the pith of the pine- 

 twig, and here the larva may be found. This lump of sticky gum, which attains 

 the size of a filbert, and in which the larva passes the pupal -state, has been 

 misnamed a gall ; but a gall is not an exuding juice or gum it is a distinct 

 outgrowth of the cellular structure of the plant. The woodcut on p. 119 

 gives illustrations of the moth, the resin-drop, and the pupa. A figure is also 

 given of the ichneumon-fly, which seeks the larva with its long needle-like 

 ovipositor ; and from its eggs emerge the grubs which will in due course devour 



their nest. An especial interest attaches 

 to the pea-moth (GrapJiolitha dorsana), 

 whose larva is the so-called maggot 

 which attacks green peas. When full 

 fed it seeks the earth, and constructs a 

 cell in which to pass the pupal -stage. 

 These larvae also are not averse to a pro- 

 vender of dry peas, to which it often causes considerable destruction. The moth 

 appears on the wing in May. The well-known codlin-moth (Gr. pomonella) takes 

 its name from the circumstance that the larva feeds within apple-trees, eating, 

 however, not so much the flesh as boring 2 3 



into the heart and feasting upon the pips. 

 It is rosy red, paler beneath, with grey 

 tubercles, each bearing a long bristle. 

 This moth flies in June and conceals 

 itself in the daytime in a crevice in the 

 bark, with whose tints its grey mottled 

 wings readily assimilate. The family of 

 the clothes -moths (Tineidw) is typically 

 represented by the lesser clothes -moth 

 (Tinea pellionella), although it must be 

 borne in mind that there is not one 

 particular moth which destroys clothing, 

 but that the larvae of several species are 

 equally destructive. T. pellionella is one 



of the smaller of these, whose larvae, of a silky yellow colour, attack all kinds 

 of clothing, as well as the upholstery of our furniture. T. tapetzella, a larger 

 species, attacks more exclusively furs, skin-rugs, etc. A figure of the larvae of one 

 species will be found on p. 121. In the allied corn-moth (T. granella) the cater- 

 pillar is very destructive to corn in granaries, feeding indiscriminately upon 

 various kinds of grain. The female lays one or two eggs on a single corn-grain ; 

 and after the deposition of all the eggs, the bodies of the adults may be found in 

 numbers in spider-webs in places which they frequent. The presence of the 



1, CODLIN-MOTH ; 2, Its caterpillar ; 

 3, MEAL-MOTH. (Nat. size.) 



