Evening star., 1914-07-16
The CLOTHES MOTH.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

BY Frederic j. daSkln. II
Entomologists may come and entomol-
ogfsts may 60 but the moth that eats
Our clothes. furs. curtains and carpets
goes on forever
The moth with which this country Is
most concerned makes its most destruct-
I've appearance In the summer, east OF
the Alleghenies. and this year 1t is prov
ing to he more active and dangerous
than ever With the nerve and the skill
that many a politician would emulate
II seems to make its boldest and most
successful attack in and around Wash
ington. 4. G.. the one place in all the
country where its natural enemy, the en-
tomoloeist foregathers in the greatest
numbers. 1t is by no means stranger
in other sections of the country. and it
may be merely that the capital has more
experts to advertise the moth
There is also the ''buffalo MOTH a
beetlelike insect that burrows into car
pets and other woolen fabrics. Unlike
the regular moths, it works all the year
round in all parts of the country. al
though its special stamping ground seems
to be the central west and the New England
states. 1t came to US from Europe i'll
1862 under the scientific nomenclature of
Anthrenus scropulariae. Since we use SO
many carpets we now have more of them
than there are on the continent. This
state of affairs would mend itself II we
used fewer carpets and more small rugs
on hardwood floors.
There are three kinds OF cloth-eating
moths, and the damage is done not by
them. but by their larvae But the effect
Is the same If the moth is allowed to
live, and what the worried housewife
wants to know Is how to kill It The best
and simplest way Is to have all clothes,
especially woolens. well and frequently
brushed. besides being given lots Of sun
light and air. They should not be stored
in camphor chests or buried in moth
balls until these simple precautions have
been observed. very inexpensive way,
nologists. is to put clothes away in the
large and cheap pasteboard boxes used
by tailors, after they have been cleaned,
brushed and aired
Cold storage is the best of all. but this
method Of thwarting moths will increase
only as the storage
Cold Storage rates decrease.
p.4 c.e. The practice is
ing general The federal Department Of
Agriculture has learned that moth lar
vac can live in a temperature of 1S de-
grees Fahrenheit, in many instances.
However. experiments have also deter
mined that an even temperature Of 40
degrees is sufficient to keep larvae in a
comatose state. and refrigeration at that
temperature is not very expensive.
The greatly advertised moth extermi-
nators aEG chemical preservatives are of
10 r-alrf Tt
and money to bother with them Their
,'oSious fumes are more annoying to the
owners of the clothes than they are to
the moths. The odor may deter q moth
from staying on the clothes long enough
10 deposit her eggs, but il does not exter-
inmate, and she goes elsewhere.
To combat carpet inroads of the buff
falo moth" the best way is thoroughly
to overhaul the carpets and rugs them
selves. At least once a year. and the
oftener the better. they should be taken
up and left a long time in the open air
They should be out of doors several
days and be given vigorous beating
After that should come an even spray Of
gasoline or benzine. followed by copious
applications of the same on the floors and
around the Dashboard. good midsea-
son expedient. if larvae are discovered or
suspected. is TO cover the affected area
with damp cloth and iron il dry with
q hot iron.
Tineina is the ancient Latin term that
is applied to all clothes moths, which are
easily recognized by their narrow wings
fringed with hair. Until Lord Walsing-
ham time moth was a moth, but he
who became the worlds greatest author
fly on the subject defined the species,
and We know the three kinds that are
most common in this county. They are
1inea pellionella- the case-making spe-
c1es. or northern moth: Tineola biseI-
leila Hummel, the webbing species, or
southern clothes moth, and Trichophaga
eApetzella- the gallery species, or tapes
try moth.
The casemahng moth produces a larvae
that makes a slit skirt in the most ap-
proved fashion.
This Moth Makes The larvae is a
c,.. n,.4 dull white. and as