The professional world. (Columbia, Mo.) 1901-192?, 1902-01-10
H MOTH.
Habits and Methods by Which 1t
Turns Your Clothes Into Its Own

London Tailor and Cutter: Clothes
moths are provided with two admira-
Bile sets of teeth, and these they work
on the wooden and hair fabrics in
which they are deposited. What they
eat in this way provides them with
food. and from it they also make a lit
tie cloak to cover their bodies. and this
they line with silk. The time when
these moths abound is in May and June,
and during these months they may Of
ten be seen flying about after sunset
seeking a convenient place to lay their
eggs. The eggs are very small-ln-
deed you almost want a microscope to
see them-but in about three weeks
they hatch and then they begin their
work of depreciation. First of all,
they make a cloak for themselves. the
color of which depends very largely
upon the cloth in which they are de-
posted. 1t is made of a sort of tissue
of wool, and wherever it goes it drags
this sheath after it. 1t walks on six
scaly legs. and holds its coat in posi-
ton by the membraneous legs at the
other end. The moth grows rapidly,
and part of its occupation consists in
making its cloak larger by frightening
it. If you watch some of these closely
you will see them put their heads out
at one end and seek for suitable wool,
and if those at hand are not to their
taste, they will reach out of their cloak
to half their length. Having found
what suits them. they take it in their
mandible and attach it to the end OF
their sheath: so. YOU see, they are tail
ors and cutters in one.
If YOU examine their mandible under
a microscope you will see they are
scaly plates. very much like scissors.
ending in a point, and with these they
cut and tear the wool till they have
it to the right size, and hen they join
it to their little cloak. At first this is
only done at one end. but as they grow
both ends are treated. The writer
then gives some observations of the
naturalist, Reamur, who made a study
of these little insects. While he was
watching one of them he was surprised
to see the head come out at the wrong
end Of the sheath; and the idea sug-
gested itself to him. can they have two
heads? He continued his watch and
saw it putting its head out first at one
end and then at the other with such
rapidity that he determined to see what
happened, so he cue a piece of the
sheath away. leaving only about one-
third of the body covered. The little
insect set to work at once to repair its
cloak. and did so much work in the
next "a hours that it had repaired ii
most effectually; but during that time
Reamur saw it turn it's head from one
end to the other, doubling itself bach
with wonderful deXterity. AS the in,
sect grows the cloak becomes too mar.
row for it, and then it startes letting ii
out The silkworm and other c~atcrpil-
lars change their skins when they get
too tight for them. but not so the
clothes moth. 1t apparently has the
true tailor instinct. for it proceeds t.
let it out. First ii Sits open itP
sheath, then it inserts a new piece, and
this it does in no less than four places.
two on each side, thus distributing the
room all around. and at the same time
avoiding all Unnecessary exposure to its
body. When it begins to cut the slit
it starts at the middle and works tc
each end. and the cut is as clean as
the best scissors could make it,