i9:oj 11 



some published observations, and also the record of a somowliat pnzzlin>^- case 

 hitherto unpublished. 



Additional published records: -(i) Tlie "Entomologist," vol. 42, 1900, 

 p. 37, gives a note on the piercing of thick lead gas-pipe by Lyctus canalicu- 

 lafu.1 in Tasmania, (ii) In the Annual lieport of the Zoologist to the 

 R. Agricultural Society fur 1911, p. 6, Mr. C. Warburton r«:'fer3 to some 

 sheet-lead, forming part of a rain-gutter, and nearly j^-iuch thick, being 

 " perforjvted like a sieve " by Anobiid beetles, *" presumably in their efforts to 

 attain the underlying wo )d." This occurred at Lower St nage, Radnorshire. 

 No specimens of the beetles themselves were received, but the lead, a piece of 

 which is in Mr. Warburton's possession, shows borings of the size tnd form 

 of those made by Anohiiim striatum (■=domesticum). (iii) The metal-piercing 

 powers of Sirex are well known, but a recent article on the subject may be 

 cited. In " The English Mechanic," No. 2495, 17.1.1913, reference is made to 

 a writer in " Zur Guten Stunde " on the habits uf Sirex yiyas. Holes made by 

 it were said to have been found in tin roofs, and in the mint at Vienna was a 

 safe, the ^-inch ste.4 plates of whicli were stated to have been perforated by 

 tlie insect. In tlie same article are mentioned some cases brought to the notice 

 of the French Academy of Sciences : in a barrel of cartridges stored for some 

 time the insects had eaten thr ni^h barrel, cartridges, and leaden bullets ; other 

 boxes of cartridges, dating from the time of the Crimean War, and perforated 

 by Sirex, were also shown. 



The hitherto unpublished " puzzle " is as follows : — In this Museum we 

 have a piece of deal board 17 mm. (about |i-inch) thick, a smaller piece of 

 wood, and a piece of lead a little under 3 mm. (about y\j-inch) thick, all 

 perforated by insects. These nmterials formed part of the roof of an old 

 bakery at Roding Green, South Woodford, Essex, which was converted into 

 cottages in 1915, though it had been used as a bakery till not long before. The 

 \voodwork of the tiled roof was much perforated, also a leaden gutter and flat and 

 the b )arding beneath the latter. The holes through the lead were said to have 

 begun to appear some four or live years earlier. The small piece of wood and 

 the lead sent here were in contact, and both are pierced by one and the same 

 boring. The burrows contnined wood- and lead-dust formed by the gnawing; of 

 insects. Tlie only insects found during the repairs of 1915 were living larvae 

 and pupae of Tenebrio molitor (species determined from pupae). They were in 

 the woodwt)rk of the tiled roof, but it is not certain whether any were at that 

 time in the boarding under the lead. It is curious that the lead should have 

 been perforated while much woodwork remained untouched inside. The above 

 pai-ticulars were supplied by the architect, Mr. II. J. Venning. 



Was Tenebrio the perforator of the wood and lead ? Some entomologists 

 to whom I mentioned the matter thought that the burrows were those of 

 Xesiobium, and that the Tenebrio had wandered into them later. But in tlie 

 specimeiiS received here the borings are too large for those of Xestobium, and 

 quite the wrong shape. In cross-section they are all more or less oval, usually 

 rather long-oval. This is not due to their being cut across obliquely, for 

 their direction is straight through the board (which was in contact with 

 other materials on both sides) almost at right angles to its surface, and 

 they are mostly separated by from a half to one inch of untouched wood^ 



