Beyer: Trogoderma inclusa. 379 



"When this irijioct infests a siibstance of similar color and consistency to 

 Hour and meal, only a few laiv;^. are sufficient, on account of their extraor- 

 (.linary habit of frequently molting, to occasion alarm. In fact, appearances 

 are much worse than the reality. Thus in a small jar of peanut meal in which 

 these larv* had taken up their abode, about forty larval skins had accumu- 

 lated when examined Sejitembcr 27. completely covering one-half of the sur- 

 face of the meal, and giving the impression of a whole colony of insects. 



"While the division of entomology was moving into new quartere a bag of 

 Saskatchewan spring wheat, formerly kept in stock for distribution, and de- 

 scribed on the label as a hard, amber variety with an exceedingly heavy grain, 

 was unearthed, in which the lan'se of this insect was livdng, three being present 

 and no other insects except a colon\- of Arithrenus and a single stray Silvanus. 

 In fact, this grain is so hard and flinty that weevils would not flourish on it. 

 Soon afterwards I found larva; in another lot of wheat infested with Silvanus 

 and in corn containing Calandra crryza and other small beetles. About the 

 same time, Mr. Frank Benton brought me some larvae found in beehives, 

 where they apparently fed upon propolis in bee glue. There are sexeral re- 

 corded instances of Dermesies lardarius feeding upon wax, or, more properly 

 speaking, honeycombs, and it is therefore fairly certain that Trogoderma has 

 the same habit, although not previously reported in beeliives. 



"Among the divi.sional notes I find one recording the receipt of six larvae 

 of this species in a box of red pepper from a correspondent in Utah, Novem- 

 ber 22, 1882. These lar\a? were kept in a box of red pepper for a year, at 

 which time fifty-four cast skins were noticed. The box was examined January 

 14, 1887, or over four yeare from the time of its receipt, when two larvae and 

 seventy more cast skins were found, but no trace of beetles, although it had 

 been kept closed so that it was impossible for either laiTse or adidts to escape. 

 It is very ob^■ious that four larvae, or the beetles that develoi)ed from them, 

 had died in the interim and were devoured by their fellows. In any case, the 

 achdt was not reared, and no published statement was made of the lar\-8e hav- 

 ing been foimd living in the condiment. 



"The capability of this species breeding in other seeds was demonstrated 

 by the discovery of the larvae living upon 'kolu,' an edible leguminous seed 

 somewhat resembling a cowpea. The insect had evidently been first attracted 

 by the dead bodies of the original inhabitants of the seeds, the weevil, Bruchus 

 chinensis, but had afterward fed upon the seeds, even hollowing them out and 

 leaving only the empty shells. In a similar manner, larvae were found, to- 

 gether with those of AttayenuH, in millet and pumpkin seeds that had formerly 

 been inhabited by the polyphagous Indian meal moth. Plodia interpunctella. 



"In the case of the six lan-ae found in the red pepper, it is not likely that 

 four of them metamorphosed, because if they had it is certain they would 

 have been devoured by their fellows. The hard, chitinous covering and the 

 elytra are never completely devoured, even by star\'ing specimens. It is much 

 more pi-obable that they died in the larval stage, and were later de\oured by 

 the other two larvae, or they might have shriveled up and darkened, and were 

 thus easily overlooked. That the two larvae which were present four years 

 later were two of the original six is highly probable. There are several larvae 

 in our laboratory which were obtained three years ago. when they were full 

 grown, and they have not changed any since." 



