28 



HA11D,WICKE'S SCIENCE. GOSSIP. 



[Feb. 1, 1S67. 



when they are forced open, the Beetle is found to 

 be wingless ; it is thus totally incapable of flight, and 

 is the largest vegetable-feeding insect in England so 

 constituted. The tarsi are very broad, and afford it 

 the power of taking a firm hold of the herbage over 

 which it crawls. At night it rests clinging to 

 stems with its head downwards ; they are difficult 

 to discover in the early morning, being covered with 

 heavy dew, and looking more like dry seeds than 

 anything else ; as soon as the heat of the sun has 

 caused all the moisture to evaporate, they begin 

 their peregrinations. The antennae look like strings 

 of small beads, very beautiful ; and, when the insect 

 is moving, they are in constant motion from side to 

 side, tapping the ground or stem over which it is 

 travelling, as if to test its safety. The scarlet fluid 

 is said by Westwood to be emitted both from 

 the mouth and the joints of the limbs ; I have 

 never, however, been able to detect the smallest 

 particle flowing from the latter places. Country 

 people say it is a specific for the toothache ; and, 

 having once tried it, I am inclined to believe them : 

 I found relief from rubbing it over the tooth and 

 gums ; but, perhaps, one is not entitled to state it as 

 a general fact from one trial. 



■<£&, 



Fig;. 10. The Blood-beetle (Timarc/ta laevigata). 



The Blood-Beetle is often figured and spoken of 

 in old works as the Catch-weed Beetle, no doubt 

 from its being commonly found on Galium aparine. 



Folkestone. Hy. Ullyett. 



WHAT IS DERMESTES? 



A T the December meeting of the Quekett Micro- 

 -^*- scopical Club, a question was asked, " What 

 is the insect called ' Dermestes,' the hairs of the 

 larva of which are employed as test-objects ? " 

 During the discussion which ensued, the figure in 

 Science Gossip (vol. i., p. 230) was alluded to as 

 being that of the larva intended. The following 

 observations may tend to elucidate the subject: — 



The Dcrmestidae are a small family of Necro- 

 phagous Beetles, of which six genera, containing 

 fifteen species, are recorded in Great Britain. This 

 number may be reduced for our purpose to eleven 

 species, the other four being doubtful or disputed 

 natives. Of the foregoing, four species, including 

 the Bacon Beetle, belong to the genus Dermestes. 



In this genus the larvae are not possessed of the 

 peculiar tail and tufts of hairs believed to be found 

 on the larvae used for microscopical purposes. This 

 reduces the number to seven, amongst which the 

 desired insect is to be found. 



Fig-. 11. Larva of Bacon-beetle. 



In the genus Attagenus, Latreille informs us, the 

 larva is long, of a reddish brown colour, and shining, 

 clothed with hairs, those at the extremity of the 

 body forming a tail. Its motions are very irregular, 

 creeping along by fits and starts. 



In the genus Megatoma, Professor Westwood 

 states that in the larva the extremity of the body is 

 furnished with two bundles of hairs, which it ex- 

 pands like a fan, and to which it imparts a tremulous 

 motion, so rapid as scarcely to allow the fans of 

 hair to be perceived while it lasts. 



In Tiresias the larva is of an elongate, ovate, 

 and depressed form, narrowed towards the tail, and, 

 covered with long brown hairs, the terminal seg- 

 ment of the body being also furnished with a long 

 brush of hair, and destitute of the two spines 



F'ig. 12. Larva of Tiresias serra. 



observed in the larva of Dermestes. It is found 

 during the winter under the loose bark of elm- 

 trees, in company with a small spider, which spins a 

 web-like case, in which it resides. 



Thinking that to this genus, which contains only 

 one British species, the so-called Dermestes be- 

 longed, we forwarded a copy of Mr. Mclntire's 

 article, with its woodcuts, to an eminent authority on 

 kindred subjects ; aud he refers the figure of the larva 

 and its hairs to some species of the following genus. 



Professor Westwood, writing of the genus Au- 

 threnus, states that "in the larva state they are 



