656 Reading-Course for Farmers' Wives. 



often mistaken for, ladybird beetles. Their white and black colorings 

 are indicated in the figure, and the stripe down the middle of the back, 

 widening into projections at three intervals, and meeting the irregular 

 white bands, is scarlet. The markings on ladybird-beetles are usually- 

 more sharply defined. These little beetles are sometimes to be seen in 

 considerable numbers on the windows or walls in houses, and are very 

 common in the spring and summer in many different flowers upon whose 

 pollen they feed. We have collected hundreds of them from the flowers 

 of pear, cherry and currant in May and June. It is probable that many 

 of them were not bred in houses, and only a comparatively few would 

 reenter to prey upon carpets. Our observations indicate that those 

 which are bred in houses endeavor to escape, and that mating commonly 

 takes place on the flowers which they frequent. The curiously wrinkled, 

 white eggs are laid among the fibers of the materials which the insects 

 infest. The eggs hatch in two or three weeks, and the little hairy larvae 

 are quite variable in their growth, depending upon warmth and food 

 supply. Our observations indicate but one generation of the insect in 

 New York. We found that the larvae feed readily and thrive on their 

 own cast skins, and the dead bodies of their own parents and other 

 insects. They seem to prefer old, dirty woolen goods to clean, new 

 ones, and certain colors are sometimes preferred to others. House- 

 wives should learn to know the insect in the beetle stage, and to dis- 

 criminate between this pest and the similar but beneficial little lady- 

 bird-beetles often found in houses. 



There is no easy way to keep this carpet-beetle in check. When it 

 has once taken possession of a house, nothing but the most thorough 

 and long-continued measures will eradicate it. The best way to avoid 

 its ravages is to use rugs instead of carpets, and to trap the larvae by 

 placing woolen cloths on the floor of closets. These cloths should be 

 shaken once a week over a paper and the insects captured. Tacked 

 carpets are unwholesome and should be replaced with rugs and art 

 squares, which can be frequently shaken, and the carpet-beetle thus 

 encouraged to migrate to more peaceful and dirtier fields. At house- 

 cleaning time spray the thoroughly beaten carpets with benzine, clean 

 the floors with soap-suds, especially the cracks, and use benzine or 

 kerosene freely in the cracks and under the baseboards. Materials 

 designed especially for filling cracks in floors are now sold, and an old 

 floor can often be put in presentable condition with these and a little 

 paint so that rugs may be used. The various insect powders are of 

 little use against this pest, for we have bred the larvae for months on 



