162 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



cult to find such notices in similar books. To show that this pest is not 

 a new one, I add two older authors taken at random. 



F. W. Herbst, Coleoptera, vol. 7, 1797, p. 328, says : ''This beetle 

 is everywhere very common in rooms, on buds, and especially common 

 on tulips. It destroys, as well as its relatives, collections of insects and 

 plants. The larva lives in the houses, like the Dermestes, and destroys 

 all kinds of collections of natural objects, cloths, furs, leather and 

 victuals." The variety of A. scropliularicc — sutura grisca — is described 

 from Europe by Illiger, 1798^.398. F. Wiegmann, Handbook der 

 Zoologie, 1832, p. 308 : " The larva lives on animal matters, and is some- 

 times very injurious to hides." 



I have ascertained this summer that the carpet bug eats of a piece of 

 cloth consisting half of worsted, half of cotton, only the worsted threads, 

 and left the cotton threads uninjured. 



I may add some words concerning the list of the obnoxious insects 

 introduced from Europe into America. It is, as I believe, overlooked 

 that about three-fourths of the insects enumerated are surely not origin- 

 ally European insects. They were introduced into Europe from the East 

 by the advancement and progress of culture, and in the same way by the 

 advancement of culture from Europe to America. The same is the case 

 with the common weeds, and some years ago, by carefully comparing the 

 list of European weeds in Prof. Ratzeburg's work with the lists of the 

 described American plants, I found out that two-thirds of all European 

 weeds are common in the United States, and perhaps a part of the last 

 third, of which I was not able to make certain. I myself was at first 

 much surprised to find in the middle of the prairie, near the railway to 

 St. Paul, Minn., common European weeds. I should state that I share 

 entirely in the wishes of the inhabitants of N. America to receive and 

 enjoy progress and advancement of culture, without the accompanying 

 drawbacks which nature seems to have so closely united with them. 



After all, I should state that it is remarkable that such pests as the 

 Colorado beetles emigrate very exceptionally from the west to the east ; 

 so the loc list tree is even now entirely free from pests in Europe, though 

 imported a century ago and very common everywhere. There are some 

 American insects imported into Europe which have been overlooked. 

 Blatta Americana is common in all sugar refineries to Archangel, and 

 everywhere in large cities in store-houses. Termes jlavipes is pro- 

 bably also imported from this continent. Blatta oriental is was imported 



