NATURE NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20235, 20 April 1929, Page 1 (Supplement)

NATURE NOTES.

BY J. DRUSIMOND, *.L.S., F.Z.ft.

EXTENSIVE MOTH FAMILY.

The clothes moths belong to a family so extensive that it usually represents more than a third of the species of moths and butterflies in any region. Its members are an extraordinarily varied assemblage. In ornamentation, structure, habits and metamorphoses, Mr. G. V. Hudson, of Wellington, finds them to be probably the most interesting section of tho moths and butterflies. Many of New' Zealand's species, ninety-seven in number, as far as is known, are subdued in colours, but there are diurnal species that flash in the sunlight colours as gorgeous as the colours of tropical butterflies. Some species, which spring into activity in the evening and in the night, have i very beautiful patterns on their wings. Mr. Hudson describes these moths as the humming birds of the lepidoptera. To him they are more attractive objects of study than many of their larger relatives. . One group of the family has the title " house-bearer," earned by its wings in repose taking the form and appearance of a roof. In this group there is a handsome and conspicuous species that ranks among New Zealand's very rare moths. Its fore-wings are deep golden-yellow, with black marks, which give strong purple reflections. Its hind-wings are rich brown, and have coppery reflections. Open scrub country is its favourite haunt, but it has been taken on small ■iniro trees on hilltops 1000 ft. above sea-level. A relative, with a less showy costume, frequents gardens and enters houses. Formerly very rare, it now is fairly plentiful. New Zealand has no fewer than sixty species of house-bearers. Six belong to the North Island alone, thirty-seven to the South Island alone, and seventeen are shared by both islands. While many are rare, some are very plentiful. In spite of their divers colours and patterns, the- moths' colour-schemes usually arc protective, taking on the appearance of fallen leaves. To supplement this, or to take full advantage of it, many qf them when disturbed drop to the ground, and wait there in repose until danger has passed. In the caterpillar stage they are of the earth, earthy. Under the surface of 'the ground they make tubular abodes of silk and refuse, feeding on roots or on decaying vegetable matter. The dull, cold winter months are spent in that way. Early in the spring they advance to the chrysalis stage, and early in summer, when the frosts and cold' winds have gone, they come out in the splendid costumes of perfect insecthood. In another pretty member of the family the male's fore-wings are yellowish-green, speckled with black, and tho female's arc orange-brown. The male's colours, Mr. Hudson states, are highly protective among moss. The female seems to mimic tho bark of the fuchsia tree. As the female is seen much less frequently than the male, her scheme of concealment seems to be better than his. '1 his may be accounted for by the fact that she evidently selects the fuchsia as a suitable plant in which to place her eggs. The caterpillars live in dead branches of the fuchsia, drilling many tunnels in the solid wood. Reddish-brown tinged with purple, and velvety, they are handsomer and more attractive than most caterpillars. They cat the wood and display great activity before inertia creeps on them, and they sleep in their tunnels until summer calls them into the higher life. Still another member of the family is radiant, exquisite, and almost unmatchable in its beautv. With all his knowledge and with 'all his long experience as an entomologist behind him, Mr. Hudson crowns this wonderful little moth Parectopa miniella, as " probably the most magnificently coloured insect in New Zealand." It docs not flaunt, and does not make itself common, and it hides its beauty in the depths of the forests. The expansion of its wing is only half ai\ inch. Palo yellow, pale crimson and brilliant crimson are its dominant colours, but mere words hardly can describe its fairy appearance. Highly distinguished is the family to which the clothes moths belong, but they nro the poor relations; all of them are drab and under-sized. Their sizes are out of proportion to tho mischief they do. All have been introduced. No_ indigenous moth seems to attack clothing. Perhaps the greatest offender in New Zealand is a little Old Country moth with yellowish-brown wings, which have an expansion of about seven-eighths of an inch. In the caterpillar stage it feeds in silken galleries among woollen clothing, furs, and skins, and damages carpets. It is plentiful in many houses. In its perfect form it appears from December to March. At least three other species have been introduced accidentally from the Old Country, all with practically the same habits/and all mischievous, sometimes to a disastrous degree. Hie females lay their eggs in material upon which the young caterpillars will teea as soon as they are hatched. In one species the caterpillars bite off small fragments and fasten them together with silk, making a small tube, which the caterpillar carries about with it. adding to the front end as the caterpillar grows and' requires a larger tube. When the caterpillar wishes to rest, or to change its skin, it withdraws into its tube, after having anchored it to a support by threads. On resuming active life it bites through the threads and carries ils portable dwelling away. Another clothes moth spins webs and galleries among clothing. Another makes neither tubes nor definite galleries. In England it is found that clothes and valuable furs mat be completely protected by being wrapped in good, sound paper; there should bo no crevices where the edges of (lie paper meet. Naphtalene, in the form of moth-balls, or sprinkled, is favoured most in New Zealand. When picking lemons Mrs. E. Brunton, Kopeopco, saw. a dragon-fly swoop down on a little grey hopper. To her surprise, tho dragon-fly began to devour its victim. It did not shift its position until its meal, which took about fourteen minutes, was finished. Every scrap of the hopper, except a wing carried away by tho wind, was eaten. The dragon-fly started on tho head, and did not rest until the tip of tho remaining wing had disappeared. The dragon-fly at dinner was watched through a lens, placed so close that it almost touched the dragonfly, which was too deeply interested in it's meal to take notice of anything else. Its black body was embellished with blue wings, and its wings were beautifully gauzy. The incident represents the usefulness of dragon-tlies. They arc not of economic importance, except that they destroy manj smaller insects, soine of which are injurious to man. They arc called horse? stingers in tho Old Country, but tliej do not sting horses, human beings, oi any other creatures. Their popular name in America, " devil's darning-needles,' is merely fanciful. In parts of Americi it is believed even that they can sew In some places they are known as damsel flies. Possessing four wings, they shouk not be called flies at all. Their neares relations are tho ephemeral May-flics, am these again are v not flies. Tho large, dragon-flies aro tho swiftest insects on th wing. A magnificent Australian dragon fly, with a wing-expansion of livo inche and a-half. flies at a great pace, estimate* by Dr. R. J. Tillyard. formerly of the Caw thron Institute, at sixty miles an hour.