236 



INTRODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY 



rolling 



Moths 



(Tortricidae) 



Fig. 164.— The Green 

 Tortrix Moth. 



It is greenish or yellowish in colour, with a row of stiff tussocks 

 of hair along its back ; these are yellow on segments four to 

 seven, with a red tuft on segment eleven. 

 The Leaf- '^^^ Tortrix Moths are very small, dully 



coloured forms, the front wings usually with 

 characteristic markings in each species, the hind 

 wings greyish and without markings. Their 

 larval habits are peculiar. Many of them live protected by 

 the leaves on which they feed, rolling them up in various 

 ways and binding them with silk. 



The Green Tortrix (T. viridana), which comes out in May, 

 is very common. The caterpillar is green, with black warts 

 on it, each wart bearing a hair. It is very 

 commonly found on oaks, dropping by a 

 thread from the boughs if shaken, and it 

 often does a great deal of damage. The 

 pupal stage is passed through protected 

 by the rolled leaf. The moth (Fig. 164) 

 which emerges has greenish front wings with a white fringe, 

 and pale-brown hind wings with a grey fringe. The under 

 side of all four wings is a silvery white. When at rest, the 

 wings are held sloping obliquely to each other like a roof. 



Other members of the family live inside seeds, fruits, or 

 buds. One is the cause of the destruction of many of our 

 peas, the caterpillars eating their way into the pods and 

 destroying their contents. They pupate in the soil for the 

 winter, and should then be 

 carefully destroyed by deep 

 hoeing and digging. 



The Tineidae in- 

 clude the smallest 

 of all the moths 

 and some of the 

 most destructive, 

 belong the little 

 brown moths that lay their 

 eggs on woollen materials and 

 furs, the larvae of which work 

 at times such havoc in our clothes by actually eating away 

 the stuff (Fig. 165). There is the Clothes or Tapestry 

 Moth (Tinea (Triclwphaga) tapetzella), which spins webs in 



Clothes 

 Moths. Leaf- 

 Miners. 

 Small 

 Ermines. 

 (Tineidae.) 



To them 



Fig. 166.— The Woollen Moth. 

 (After Eeaumur.) 



The larva, covered by the case it has 

 made, eating a piece of cloth. 



