MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 



439 



amount of damage. A large number of them are called leaf-miners because they feed 

 on the tissues of the leaves, beneath the epidermis, forming crooked and gradually 

 enlarging channels, which are rendered visible on the surface on account of the 

 whitish color of the overlying epidermis. Some feed in the stems of plants, a few are 

 gall-producers, and still others feed on the roots of plants under the ground. A few 

 species belonging to the genus Tinea feed on woollen fabrics, hair, feathers, etc. These 

 are the moXhspar excellence; and in our English version of the Bible, as well as in the 

 old English writings, when the term moth was used, reference was made to some one 

 of these species. The word is still used to some extent in this restricted sense, but 

 more frequently the term clothes moth is used. 



Tinea pellionella., which expands half an inch, is a grayish moth with two or three 

 darker obscure spots on the fore wings, and lighter-colored, silky hind wings. The 

 head is covered with dull yellowish hairs. These insects are frequently seen in our 

 houses, during the summer months, at rest on the walls or ceiling in the daytime, and 

 flitting about by night in the darker parts of the room, and seldom going near a light. 

 After the sexes pair the females deposit fifty or more eggs, which hatch in about a 

 week, when the young caterpillars begin to feed, and' at once construct portable cases 

 of the materials on which they feed. These cases are of a cylindrical form, open at 

 both ends, and lined with delicate silk. When the 

 caterpillars have grown too large for their cases they 

 split them down at one end, and fill in the space with 

 new material, after which they enlarge the opposite 

 end in the same manner. They never leave their 

 cases, but, in feeding, put out a small part of the 

 anterior end of their bodies, and, as they move about, 

 drag the cases along with them. Their transforma- 

 tions are all passed in the cases. This insect, which 

 has a world-wide distribution, feeds on woollen goods of all kinds, fur, hair, feathers, 

 and also on insects in collections, .and has always been regarded a notorious pest. 



Tinea tapetzella has an expanse of about three-fourths of an inch, and is black on 

 the basal half of the fore wings but white on the outer half, with a small black spot 



on the anal angle. The caterpillar makes covered gal- 

 leries of the substance on which it feeds, and is destruc- 

 tive to woollen fabrics. 



Tineola biselliella expands a little more than half an 

 inch, and is of a pale yellow ochre color, with a reddish 

 ochre-colored head. The hind wings are silky and nearly 

 white. The caterpillar is of a dirty-white color, and 

 makes no case, but fastens together with silken threads 

 portions of the substance on which it feeds for a cocoon, 

 in which it transforms to a pupa. This species, which is 

 distributed all over the world, is particularly destructive 

 to woollen fabrics, fur, hair, feathers, dried insects ; and it 

 is also said to attack dried plants. 



Tinea granella has been carried to nearly all the 

 countries of the globe where grain is cultivated, and has 

 proved a great pest, not only in grain in storehouses, but also in the field. The 

 fore wings of the moth expand about half an inch, and are white, with numerous 



Fig. 558. — Clothes moth, larva and pupa. 



Fio. 559. — Tinea granella ; eggs, 

 larvse, pups, and adult. 



