XVII 

 ANIMAL PESTS 



1. Destroyers of woolens and furs. — These are to us serious 

 pests; but they do not much bother the animals, because 

 they feed only on dead and dry stuffs, like hair and wool and 

 skins. The most important ones are the clothes moths 

 and the carpet beetles. Some of the latter also eat dried 

 insects, and are the eternal pests of our collections. 



2. Other household pests. — These are insects that variously 

 take advantage of the artificial shelter our houses afford, and 

 that come in and live with us in various ways. Cockroaches 

 like the shelter and the food in our kitchens so well they 

 gladly come in and stay and raise their families with us. 

 So also do fish moths and book lice. Mealworms and flour 

 moths and cheese skippers live and grow up in certain of our 

 prepared foods. Ants and flies dwell elsewhere but come in 

 and eat with us: and sometimes they bring on their feet 

 contamination to our food. 



3. Pests of man. — Fleas and bedbugs, mosquitoes, punkies, 

 and lice — ancient, abominable scourges of our race, all of 

 them capable of transmitting the germs of communicable 

 diseases — we may be rid of, by diligently applying modern 

 means, and by taking thought. 



4. Pests of live stock. — These are of the same groups (and 

 some, of the same species) as human pests; but the animals 



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