s, the more he travels, the more mischief he does.

After taking his fill of this sort of life he changes to a chrysalid
(Fig. 59), and soon appears as one of those delicate, tiny, demure
moths that fly in such numbers from early in the spring until the
autumn.

Very many do not recognize these moths in their perfect stage, so small
are they, and vent their wrath on those great millers that fly around
lamps in warm summer evenings. It need scarcely be said that these large
millers are utterly guiltless of any attempts upon our wardrobes; they
make their attacks in a more open form on our gardens and orchards.

We will give a more careful description of the clothes moth, which was
found in its different stages June 12th in a mass of loose cotton. The
larva is white, with a tolerably plump body, which tapers slightly
towards the tail, while the head is much of the color of gum-copal. The
rings of the body are thickened above, especially on the thoracic ones,
by two transverse thickened folds. It is one-fifth of an inch long.

The body of the chrysalis, or pupa, is considerably curved, with the
head smooth and rounded. The long antennae, together with the hind legs,
which are folded along the breast, reach to the tip of the hind body, on
the upper surface of each ring of which is a short transverse row of
minute spines, which aid the chrysalis in moving towards the mouth of
its case, just before the moth appears. At first the chrysalis is
whitish, but just before the exclusion of the moth becomes the color of
varnish.

When about to cast its pupa skin, the skin splits open on the back, and
the perfect insect glides out. The act is so quickly over with, that the
observer has to look sharp to observe the different steps in the
operation.

[Illustration: 60. Clothes Moth.]

Our common clothes moth (Tinea flavifrontella, Fig. 60) is of a uniform
light-buff color, with a silky iridescent lustre, the hind wings and
abdomen being a little paler. The head is thickly tufted with hairs and
is a little tawny, and the upper side of the densely hirsute feelers
(palpi) is dusky. The wings are long and narrow, with the most beautiful
and delicate long silken fringe, which increases in length towards the
base of the wing.

They begin to fly in May, and last all through the season, fluttering
with a noiseless, stealthy flight in our apartments, and laying their
eggs in our woollens.

Successive broods of the clothes moth appear