Moth
a common name for numerous families of insects closely related to the butterfly. The general nature of a moth may be learned from the articles on INSECTS and BUTTERFLIES. The moths may be known from the butterflies in a general way by remembering that moths fly usually at night; allow their wings to remain open while resting; have pointed, not knobbed, feelers; and that the pupa often incloses itself in a spun cocoon. As a rule, moths are more hairy or woolly than butterflies, and, as they fly at night, do not wear as brilliant raiment.
There are over 6,000 species of moths and butterflies in North America outside of Mexico. It is difficult to find appropriate common names for so many moths. One with a floury coat is called the miller. Certain large moths are called hawk moths from their strong flight. A moth of this family is also called a hummingbird moth from a habit of hovering over a flower while sucking the nectar through its long tube. Some moths are named from the plants their larvae feed on; some are named from their habit of flight, the shape of their wings, or the clothing they wear. Skippers have a darting motion; swifts are noted for rapidity of flight. Flannel moths are clothed in curly wool. The caterpillar of the bag-worm moth builds itself a silken sack and hides it by gluing on bits of twigs. The larva of the carpenter moth bores into the twigs of the locust tree. Smoky moths are black. Bee moths lay their eggs in beehives. The meal moth leaves its eggs in any sort of meal or flour. The close-wing wraps its wings about it tightly and hides on a blade of grass. The pine-pest infests pine trees. The flour moth is a pest in flouring mills. The wings of the plume moth are separated by fissures into featherlike plumes. The codlin moth is one of the worst enemies of the apple grower. Its caterpillar ruins the young apple. The ugly-nest caterpillar fastens a wad of oak or cherry leaves together. The caterpillars of well on to 1,000 kinds of small moths live by mining a channel each in the kind of leaf--clover, oak, apple, palmetto, pine, maple, cherry--it likes best. The clothes moths, three kinds of them, lay their eggs in clothing and furs. The larvae cut their way regardless of value, and when they have eaten they cut more to make pockets or cases to live in. The only safety from clothes moths lies in keeping the moths out. Clearwings have transparent wings, unusual for a moth. Borers, and there are many species, infest fruit trees, currant bushes, and melon patches; their caterpillars bore into twigs and vines, following the pith and doing millions of dollars' worth of damage annually. "Prominents," "handmaids," and "mocha-stones," have their peculiarities.
Caterpillar or measuring worm geometrids draw tail to head, humping up the back. They seize the twig by the rear legs, raise up the head, and, reaching forward full length, seize hold by the front legs. The rear end is thus drawn up a second time, and thus they measure along until they find food to suit. The black-witch is a magnificent night moth. The boll-worm, the army-worm, the cut-worm, the cankerworm, and the cotton-worm are caterpillars of various moths. Tussock, wood-nymph, forester, tiger-moth, web-worm, tent caterpillar, yellow-bear, footman, window-winged, sphynx, tobacco-worm, hog-caterpillar, silkworm, royal, regal, imperial, oak-worm, and luna are some of the suggestive terms used in naming either moths or their progeny. And thousands of moths have not yet been described or named by entomologists.
As to size moths vary greatly. The distance across the outspread wings may be a fraction of an inch or, as in the case of the owl moth of Brazil, the breadth of wing spread may measure eleven inches.
Bugs, beetles, locusts, flies, and moths--the United States Department of Agriculture estimates that the American farmer and fruit grower loses $795,000,000 a year by the ravages of insects. The gypsy moth of Europe, brought over and released in 1868, has become a pest in Massachusetts. Orchards, shade trees, and shrubbery have suffered. Millions have been spent in checking its ravages. The state has made a standing appropriation of $150,000 a year to fight the gypsy moth. Adult moths do not do much damage, but the larvae, the "worms," are a scourge.
See Cotton; Cutworm; Army-Worm; Spraying; Raspberry; Silk