LEPIDOPTERA. 
249 
not indicate that these larvae are inconstant in their habits. 
In fact, the opposite is the case. Each species of Tineid 
infests a particular species of plant, or, at the most, several 
closely allied plants. And each species makes a mine of 
definite shape, although some species exhibit different habits 
in the different stages of their growth. So constant are 
these creatures in their habits that in most cases an expert 
can determine the species of Tineid that made a mine by 
merely examining the infested leaf. 
The various kinds of mines can be classed under a few 
distinct types. The long, narrow, and more or less winding 
mines are described as 
linear mines. Some of 
these are very narrow at 
their beginning and grad¬ 
ually enlarge, resembling 
in outline a serpent; fre¬ 
quently the larger end is 
terminated by a blotch¬ 
like enlargement, suggest¬ 
ing a head. Such mines 
are termed serpent hie 
mines . The leaves of the 
wild columbine are often 
marked by serpentine 
mines (Fig. 297). Other 
mines that start from a narrow beginning enlarge more 
rapidly and extend in a more or less regular curve; these 
are trumpet mines. A common example of a trumpet 
mine is that made by the larva of Tischeria malifoliella 
(Tis-che'ri-a mal-i-fol-i-el'la) in the leaves of apple. The 
mines of many species are mere disk-like blotches ; these are 
referred to as blotch mines (Fig. 298). Blotch mines differ in 
position; some are immediately beneath the upper epider¬ 
mis, while others are nearer the lower surface of the leaf. 
This distinction exists also in most of the other types of 
Fig. 297.—Leaf with serpentine mines 
