INSECTS AFFECTING HOUSEHOLD GOODS 221 



characteristic of the family to which they belong. The 

 most common species is the Case-making Clothes Moth,* 

 whose larva constructs a portable case for its protection. 

 The adult moth expands about half an inch, its head and 

 fore wings are grayish-yellow, with darker spots in the mid- 

 dle, and the hind wings are white or grayish. The larva is a 

 dull white caterpillar about three-eighths of an inch long 

 when grown, and lives within a tube-like case made from the 

 material on which it feeds, and lined with silk. The larvae 

 feed on woolens, carpets, furs, feathers, etc. There is but 

 one generation a year, the moths appearing in July and 

 August. The Webbing or Southern Clothes Moth] is the 

 more common species in the latitude of Washington, D. C., 

 and southward. It is about the size of the preceding species, 

 but the fore wings are uniformly pale yellowish without 

 darker spots. Its larva does not construct a case, but spins 

 a silky web wherever it goes. When grown it makes a 

 cocoon of silk with bits of wool intermixed, within which the 

 pupal stage is passed. This species has two generations, 

 the first moths appearing in June and the second generation 

 in August and September. The Tapestry Moth \ is a much 

 rarer species in this country. It is larger, expanding three- 

 fourths of an inch, and is easily distinguished by its more 

 striking coloration. The head is white, the bases of the 

 fore wings are black, and the remainder a creamy-white 

 more or less obscured with gray. This species is more com- 

 mon on heavier cloths, carpets, horse blankets, tapestries, 

 etc., but also affects f el tings, furs, skins, and the woolen 

 upholstering of carriages. Its larva eats into the material 

 which it infests, lining its burrows with silk. 



* Tinea pellionella Linn. Superfamily Tineina, see page 77. 

 t Tinea biselliella Hummel, 

 t Trichophaga tapetzella Linn. 



