The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1924-03-01
HOW TO CONTROL
MOTHS In HOMES
Pests Will Destroy Anything
From Clothes to Brushes.

Washington, d. C.-Complete elm
nation of clothes moths from the home
is difficult. They breed not only in
wearing apparel, but in carpets, rugs,
and upholstered furniture, a single
piece of which may often furnish a
steady supply of moths to restock an
entire house. They can be reduced,
however. in any home or establishment
by. using the control measures pre-
scribed by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture.
Persons owning clothing subject to
attack can afford to buy chests or cab
inets that are very tight in which to
store them. Trunks are usually not
m%oth-proof. Red cedar chests when in
good condition are among the tightest
containers on the market. Such chests
keep out the moths, and the character
istic odor Of their wood kills any new
ly-hatched or young moth larvae that
may be confined in them with the cloth
ing. Tight chests or cabinets, the walls
of which can be made to absorb as
much cedar Oil as Is found in the wood
of containers of equal size, are as val
liable al cedar chests.
"Clothes moths are the prime offend
ers among fabric pests" says e. A,
Black, entomologist. in a department
bulletin.
They Prefer Darkness.
1.-THE ommOn clothes moths are usu-
ally seen flying in darkened corners
and just beyond range of the brightest
rays of the lamp. They prefer dark
ness.
"The moths, or millers as they are
J19etfpuaq1te,d hPyer.ipnerfeGtly~d ayel
oped mouth parts and could not feed
upon fabrics if they desired. Their
purpose in life is merely to lay eggs
hat develop into the worms or larvae,
which alone can cause destruction.
Nevertheless, every moth killed helps
to reduce in~festations by preventing
more eggs being laid. The moths lay
their eggs in and about clothing and
other objects subject to attack. From
the eggs are Matched the larvae, or
Only the worm or larvae of
the clothes moth is capable of destroy
inc fabrics.
There are two very common species
IF clothes moth. They are the case
making clothes moth and the webbing
moth. The tapestry moth is
.ess often found, though II may become
destructive,
The adult of the case-making
'lothes moth has a wing eXpanse of
bout half an inch. Its head and fore
wings are grayish yellow or buff, with
indistinct dark spots on the middle of
he outer portions. The hind wings
ire white or grayish and silky.
1.-THE case-making clothes moth is so
t.amed because the larva, for its pro-
Iection, makes a portable case out of
spun silk and fragments of the fabric
upon which it feeds. These cases at
tain a length of from four-sixteenths
10 six-sixteenths of an inch. The larva
almost never leaves Its case. The
webbing clothes moth Is the NEST album
Iant and Injurious clothes moth.
Bothered by One Type.
During the last few years, prac-
tically all instances of severe clothes
moth damage reported by manufacture
ing plants throughout the North, in
Chicago, Boston AID New York,
have been associated with this species.
cor years it has been the prevailing
in oartaip boucaS in yuactarn
Massachusetts and southeastern Con-
necticut, hence it cannot be said that
this webbing clothes moth is typicaNy
Southern in distribution, although it is
often called the Southern clothes
moth.
CLOTHES moths feed upon wool, fur,
hair, feathers, and all fabrics manu-
featured from them. They also relish
dried animal matter such as dead in
sects, including the dead of their W
species. anG untreated SKINS beef meal,
casein, etc. In experimental work
clothes moths have thrived best upon
a diet of bristles, hair, feathers, fur,
raw wool, and not so well upon or
binary wooden cloth used in the making
of wearing apparel. Notwithstanding
this, the damage they cause to wearing
apparel has given them a well-deserved
reputation as pests.
"There may be some satisfaction,
however, in knowing that If the death
rate among clothes moths feeding upon
dyed wooden fabrics was as low as
omnnp those feeding uDOn raw wool.
and their growth as rapid as when they
feed upon bristles, furs and hair, their
capacity for destruction would be in
.reased enormously.
"A single piece of h~air-stuffed or
feather-stuffed furniture may keep a