32 



THE REPORT OF THE 



No. 19 



Some Household Pests. 



It would appear as if the Buffalo Carpet Beetle (Fig. 6) was gradually 

 extending its sphere of operations in Ontario. Reports reach me from 

 widely separated points of its presence in injurious numbers, and requests 

 are freely asked for the best remedies. This insect is not an easy one to 

 control, and only long continued persistent efforts will eradicate it. First 

 of all the carpets should be taken up, thoroughly beaten, and it would be 

 advisable to spray these with benzine while they are out of doors. The 

 bare floors should be swept and dusted and washed with hot water. Care- 

 ful attention should be given to the cracks in the floor, and it would be well 

 to pour some benzine into the cracks, then, after it has evaporated, to fill 

 up these cracks with putty or plaster of Paris. The cracks are the best 

 breeding places for the insect, and these should be done away with if pos- 

 sible. Rugs should be used rather than carpet, for experience shows that 

 the edge of the carpet is most liable to injury from the attacks of this insect. 

 In rooms where the Carpet Beetle has effected an entrance, it would be well 

 lo leave the edges of the carpet free, so that they may be examined freely 

 at intervals. If the house-keeper carries out the measures which I have 

 indicated, she will have little trouble from the operations of the Carpet 

 Beetle. 



Fig. G. 



Buffalo Beetle ; a larva (destructive stage) ; b pupa within larva skin ; 

 (• pupa ; d beetle— all much magnified. 



Powder Post Beetle. This minute beetle belongs to the genus Lyctus. 

 It is more or less common throughout the Province, and many inquiries 

 have been made during the past season as to the name of the insect which 

 is converting some of the oldest and most valuable furniture into powder. 

 The cause of the injury is a minute beetle called the Powder Post Beetle. 

 It not only is injurious to old house furniture, but it is an insect to be 

 dreaded by wood workers generally. This minute beetle passes the winter 

 in the wood, and the eggs are deposited in the spring. The grubs, on 

 hatching from the egg, begin to operate in all directions through the wood. 

 There they remain until full grown and transform to the pupa stage, and 

 in a short time afterwards they emerge as adult beetles. It is probable 

 that there is but one brood annually. These insects prefer very dry wood 

 material. The best methods pf treatment for this particular insect are : 

 First, to subject infested timber to a thorough steaming in a tight rooni, 

 or to a very high temperature in a kiln, or to make applications of coal oil 

 or benzine to the infested parts. I have advocated the use of hydro-cyanic 

 acid gas. 



Mites in Flour. Occasionally packages of flour have been sent m 

 which showed the presence of Mites. Naturally the house-keeper is averse 

 to using flour containing Mites, and inquiries are made as to the best method 



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