Many of the smaller moths are superficially very similar in appearance. Some attack textiles, some are pests of agricultural crops, while others infest foods (p. 63). In everyday life, however, the moths most commonly encountered are those that attack clothing, and these must have been a nuisance to man for a very long time. As soon as our ancestors started to store skins the moths must have arrived immediately and exploited this new and rich source of food. Evidence that moths have been one of man’s pests over a long period can be found in several places in the Bible. Thus, in Job XIII, 28: ‘And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.’ Also in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says ‘Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt’ (Matthew VI, 19).
Small moths
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