500 INSECTS AT HOME. 



female are pale brown without the spots, and the under wings 

 are nearly white. 



Like the preceding insect, this Moth is rare except in places 

 where the reed abounds. The somewhat odd-looking name 

 Schcenobius alludes to this fact, and is derived from two Greek 

 words signifying something that lives among reeds. Several 

 other of the Veneers belong to the genus Crambus, which has 

 already been mentioned. 



The last of the Crambites which we can examine is an 

 insect with which all bee-keepers would very gladly dispense, 

 as it plays much the same part with the bee-comb that the 

 Clothes Moth does with wool, fur, or feathers. This is the little 

 insignificant-looking Honey-comb Moth {Galleria cerella), a 

 figure of which is given on Woodcut LVIII. Fig. 1. The 

 s^jecific name of cerella (from the Latin word cera, wax) has 

 been given to this insect in consequence of the wax-eating 

 propensities of the larva. Linnseus, being deceived by the 

 structure of the palpi, gave to the male the specific name of 

 cereana, and to the female that of melonella (from the Latin, 

 viel, honey). So, in order to avoid confusion, both these 

 names have been rejected, and the present specific name 

 accepted in their stead. 



The colour of this Moth is simply brown, the lower wings 

 grey-brown, the upper pair having a tinge of chestnut. 

 They are rather boldly scooped at the tips, in which respect 

 they differ from those of one or two other Moths, which will 

 presently be mentioned. 



Personally, I have a very strong objection to this Moth, and 

 cannot easily forgive it for the destruction of a valuable collec- 

 tion of bee-combs. I well remember my dismay at discovering 

 the havoc which this insect had made in a very short time. The 

 cases containing the combs had been put away for some months, 

 until I had to refer to them. On opening the cases, I was 

 dismayed to find that the combs had almost entirely disap- 

 peared, and in their place was a complicated mass of long 

 silken tubes, running in all directions, and swarming both with 

 the caterpillar and perfect insect of the Honey-comb Moth. 

 The rapidity with which they form their galleries is really 

 wonderful, and the caterpillars appear even to extend them 



