ORDER LEPIDOPTERA: MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES 243 



Lasiocampidce. Eggar-moths and lappet-moths ; largish, 

 stout, thickly-furred moths, often beautifully mottled in 

 brown. The eggs are sometimes embedded in hair shed 

 by the parent, so that when they are laid in rows the mass 

 resembles a strip of felt. The caterpillars are very woolly 

 and hairy, as also is the cocoon : the hairs of a South African 

 species of Metanastria are said to be thrown off by the 

 caterpillar and to be particularly irritating. 



Lymantridce. Tussock moths; smallish white, or grey, 

 or dingy, hairy moths, the adult female often wingless 

 or with imperfect wings. The eggs are often protected 

 with hair. The caterpillars have brightly coloured tufts of 

 hair which may be venomous. 



The following families include species which are notorious 

 pests in houses and granaries : — 



PyralidcR. A very large family of small, plain-coloured 

 moths, often with long legs and a few cross-markings on 



Fio. 110. — Venation of Pyralid. 



Fig. 111. — Pyralisfarinalis, enlarged. 



the fore wings. They can be distinguished, if the wings be 

 mounted in Canada balsam so as to make the scales trans- 

 parent, by the wing-venation (Fig. i lo). The larvae, which 

 are usually naked and dingy coloured, protect themselves 

 with silky threads and entangled debris; some of them 

 do great damage to stored grain, flour, etc., one of the 

 most notorious being Pyralis farinalis, the adult of which 

 is shown in Fig. in. Fumigation with carbon bisulphide 

 has been recommended for infested granaries and mills ; but 

 it must not be forgotten that this compound is explosive. 



Tineidce. An enormous family of small or minute moths, 

 usually with narrow, shiny wings having particularly broad 

 fringes ; the broad-winged species must be distinguished 



