BEDBUG — CLOTHES MOTHS 355 
in human dwellings, hiding away in crevices by day, and coming out 
to suck the blood of its unfortunate host by night. | Normally its life 
round requires about three months, but it 
can exist for a long time in a house tempo- 
rarily vacated. In cities it sometimes & 
migrates from vacant residences to others 
near by that are occupied. The young are 
similar in shape to the adults, and, like their 
parents, have a strong sucking beak. Fic. 558.— The Bedbug. 
Enlarged and natural 
size. Original. 
A thorough course of treatment of all 
hiding places is necessary for their eradica- 
tion, unless it is possible to vacate 
a house for two or three days and 
fumigate with hydrocyanic acid gas. 
Gasoline, corrosive sublimate, or tur- 
pentine may be used in cracks to kill 
them. In vacant houses sulphur 
may be burned, using it at the rate 
of 2 pounds to the 100 cubic feet, 
and placing the material in a metal 
or earthen dish, which should in 
turn be placed within a larger 
Fic. 559.— Head of Bedbug. Greatly dish, to guard against danger of 
enlarged. Original. fire. 
The Clothes Moths 
Several species of tiny, dusky moths lay eggs in woolens or furs, 
the resulting larve feeding on the garments, eating holes in them, and 
often doing irreparable damage. The larva of a common species, 
Tinea pellionella L., makes a little case within which it feeds. 
In the Northern states this particular species occurs in the larval 
state — the only stage in which it is directly destructive — in summer 
only. In the South it may occur all the year. The adults are on the 
wing at any time in the warmer months. They are active and shy, 
and avoid the light. 
