1900 ] ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. • 43 



stirring up is an excellent means of deterriag them from indulging their destructive 

 propensities. And now that it is here to stay, as it is not entirely depending on indoor 

 propagation, so cannot be exterminate^, except locally, there is nothing for it but to give 

 it due attention ; and to combat it successfully, a knowledge of its nature and habits must 

 be acquired. 



Having learned to recognize the beetles, they may be seen upon the windovirs in early 

 spring and destroyed before they have an opportunity to deposit their eggs, and thus pre- 

 vent future trouble from them. In nature it takes a full year to complete the round of 

 its existence, but with the artificial warmth of houses it matures in shorter time, and 

 beetles may be found on windows before the end of winter. 



When once a dwelling has become infested, not only should the carpets be thoroughly 

 beaten, and disinfected, but narrow strips ot thin muslin should be fastened over the joints 

 of the floors with varnish before relaying, so as to prevent them secreting themselves there. 

 A strip of tar paper laid under tne outer edge of the carpet is an excellent preventative. 



When they are known to be at work and it is not convenient to lift the carpet, ben- 

 zine will kill any living insect that it is brought in contact with, but great care must be 

 exercised in not allowing a light to approach it while it is evaporating, as it is very in- 

 flammable. A damp cloth and hot iron will also efiectually arrest the operations of any 

 depredators upon whom they are applied. S^eam or benzine may also be used to advan- 

 tage to get rid of their presence in upholstered furniture ; by such means can their opera- 

 tions be restrained and rendered comparatively harmless. But constant watchfulness 

 against their presence is required, for even if a dwelling has been freed from their presence 

 during one season, the beetles may enter at the open windows the next summer and start 

 a colony afresh. 



There is another beetle with similar iaabits belonging to the Dermeatidse, Attagenus 

 piceus, Oliv., whose larva is about the same size and hairy character as that of Anthrenus 

 scrophularioe, which it closely resembles and might easily be mistaken for, as they are some- 

 times found associated ; but the beetles are quite different in appearance, Attagenus piceus 

 being much longer than wide, a flatter insect and entirely black. This also will have to 

 be guarded against, as it is just as destructive a carpet pest as the other, and in eome 

 instances becomes the most numerous of the two. For some time past it has been more 

 troublesome in the Society's collection than Anthrenus varius, which is supposed to be 

 the standard museum pest. 



A friend in the country, in one of his recent letters to me, conveyed the following 

 item of information, which may serve as a warning against the employment of cheap 

 labour : " We got lots of help to thin our turnips this year. Some big green fellows came 

 along who gave us their assistance and worked for their board ; but they made a bad job 

 of it. After we had thinned some rows they would go round and thin them over again, 

 and they left nothing whatever in some rows, but that may have been because they worked 

 at night and did not see what they were doing." 



During the remarkably fine weather we were favored with during October, winged 

 Aphis were in great abundance, and made walking on the streets quite unpleasant, espec- 

 ially where there were shade trees. One evening when the setting sun illuminated the 

 hazy atmosphere and the tiny wings reflected the light conspicuously and made each in- 

 dividual stand out distinctly, I made an effort to estimate how thick they were. By 

 stopping at different points and watching closely, I estimated there was one to every four 

 inches of space. Before they had all gone, those mosquito-like merry dancers [Gulici- 

 formis, Latreille, some of whose larvae live in water and others feed on fungus,) made 

 their appearance, who from some inherent perversity of their nature, congregate in living 

 columns over the sidewalks, with their densest portion about the level of one's face, 

 which one must either go through or turn off the walk to get round, when one would 

 think that any other portion of the street would serve the purpose just as well. One 

 warm summer's day, I took a seat in a pleasant shade, put my light colored straw hat on 

 my knee, when one of these groups formed over it and commenced a jig close to my face, 

 some of them striking it. 1 swept them away several times but they always returned 

 and gathered as before. I began to suspect that the hat was the centre of attraction, so 

 I placed it on the seat an arm's length away, when they immediately formed their dancing 

 party over it there and kept it up until I took it to leave. So it would seem as if they 

 iked to have some conspicuous object beneath them to keep the crowd in line. 



