Imperial Valley press., 1937-05-10
BY MISS FLORENCE GLENN


Frequently you wish to know how
to prevent the destruction caused by
clothes moths. All women know
Whet ! mean when / speak 81
moths. Some of you may have been
taken in by some marvellous pre-
paration which seems a panacea
for all moth troubles. Because each
year thousands of dollars of dam
age is done to clothes, the Bureau
of Home Economics and Bureau OF
Entomology in the U. S. Depart
ment of Agriculture carried on an
investigation.
You are interested in knowing if
there is such a thing as elimination
of the housewives pest, namely, the
clothes moth. Let me assure you that
complete elimination of the clothes
moth is difficult. They are the
prime offenders among fabric pests.
Do you know what the clothes
moth miller looks like? Well, just
moths or 'millers" most common
about the houses have a wing spread
of about one-half an inch, and they
are yelloWish or buff colored. Un-
like other insects they do not fly
directly to a light in a room and
remain fitting around it. The moths
that fly in large numbers about the
home lights generally feed on vege-
tation and will not eat household
fabrics. Their presence in the house
is accidental-they have been mere
ly lured into the house by the light.
Prefers Darkness
You will find the common clothes
moth flying about III darkened cor
ners and just beyond the brightest
range of the lamp. The clothes moth
like some other enemies prefer
darkness. They are frightened when
clothing and other objects are sud-
denly moved and are seen flying to
conceal themselves in the creaSes
of clothing, cracks in the wardrobe
closet or other dark places.
The moths or millerS as they are
often called, have imperfectly de-
veloped mouth parts and could not
feed upon fabrics if they. desired.
Their purpose in life is merely to
lay eggs that develop into worms
or larvae And it is this worm or
larvae that does the damage.
The moths lay their eggs in and
about clothing and other objects.
You can no doubt identify the moth
larvae but just to make sure let me
tell you about it. The larvae are
grey Whitish in color and are about
one-half inch in length.
Work All The Time
With our modern dwellings there
is no closed season for moths You
must keep on your guard all of the
time. | am not going to give you a
detailed classification of the moths
The larvae or deStructful stage may
last from two months to a hundred
and four days, and these larvae have
ravenous appetites as you well know
from the damage done to your last
years Woolen dress you intended to
make over and discovered that the
moths had been there first. 1t takes
SO much more time and figuring to
reStyle q dress when you have to
cut around moth holes, as most of
us know.
We have to know something OF
the biology of the clothes moth il
We are TO successfully fight it. The
moth or miller" seldom lives as
long as a month. The moths are
more likely to die between the sew
enth and fourteenth days after they
emerge from the pupa. Moths NAV
deposit as many as SO eggs in theil
life time. The eggs are fragile and
easily crushed. Much depends upon
their environment in relation to
their activity
Clothes moths almost never in
jure household fabrics or wearing
apparel in daily or weekly use, or
articles that are brushed, cleaned
or beaten once or twice a month,
Furniture ON the other hand NAV
be in constant use and still be bad
ly infested.