INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOTHES 203 



THE "BUFFALO BUG" OR "BUFFALO MOTH" 



Anthrenus scroph ula rice 



There are two species of beetles in the United States 

 that have come to be known as carpet beetles. Both of 

 them are small insects and not familiar to most house- 

 keepers. It is the larvae or grubs of these beetles that 

 really do the mischief and with these many housekeepers 

 are only too well acquainted. The larvae of one of these 

 carpet beetles has come to be known as the "buffalo bug" 

 or the "buffalo moth" and it is the more common and 

 better known of the two. The other species is known 

 simply as the black carpet beetle. 



Again, we must make our acknowledgments to the Old 

 World for a comparatively new pest in a new and serious role. 

 It was first noted as a serious pest in this country about 

 1874, although Henshaw reports it at Cambridge, Massa- 

 chusetts, as early as 1869. In Europe, however, no records 

 are obtainable that show it is especially injurious to carpets, 

 and it is not there considered a serious household pest. 

 At least, it is of so little consequence in European house- 

 holds that it has never attracted any particular attention. 

 It is known in Europe principally as a pest in museums, 

 where it is often found eating the dead bodies of specimens 

 and causing considerable injury. Indeed, it was imported 

 into this country several times in insect collections 

 brought from Europe and has played the role of a 

 museum pest in Cambridge, Detroit, and San Francisco. 

 About 1874 it was imported into this country into the 

 cities of Boston and New York, probably simultaneously, 

 in shipments of carpets. Since then it has spread 



