232 INSECTS 



reached by fumigation with hydrocyanic acid gas, 

 which will be described later on. 



In the southern and southwestern states there is 

 another, much larger species that has also developed 

 the house habit and is known as the "big bed-bug," or 

 the "blood sucking cone-nose," Conorrhinus sanguisu- 

 gis. It belongs to the family ReduviidcB or "assassin 

 bugs," all of which are predatory in habit, and its bite 

 is a serious matter, causing much swelling and often 

 inflammatory and febrile symptoms. These insects 

 are so large and so little fitted for hiding that ordinary 

 care in looking after beds and rooms will detect them 

 and prevent trouble. 



Among the Coleoptera or beetles there are a large 

 number that live with us and cause trouble. All, how- 

 ever, are species quite capable of taking care of them- 

 selves outdoors and come to us only because we have 

 in our possession or in the building some of the products 

 upon which they normally feed. 



A good illustration is found in the species belonging 

 to the family DermestidcB, nearly all of which are feeders 

 upon dried animal products. The term "dried animal 

 products" is a broad one and includes little scraps of 

 meat left on an old bone, a bit of hide remaining where 

 an animal has decayed, or a pile of hair or wool, no 

 matter where found. A dead insect found in the field 

 serves as a nidus in which an egg is deposited, and if 

 the dead insect is in our collections that is not a matter 

 of concern to the beetle, provided it can be gotten at. 

 We have, therefore, larder beetles, leather beetles, 

 museum beetles, carpet beetles, and a variety of others 

 of the same type, all seeking in our dwellings that dried 

 animal food which they require, and whose presence is 

 indicated to them by the discriminating sense of smell 

 with which they are fitted. 



