210 



HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



THE BLACK CARPET BEETLE 



Attagenus piceus 



In the case of this insect (Fig. 61) we have a pest with 

 a varied menu and consequently one that is apt to be found 

 committing a different kind of injury in different surround- 

 ings. For example, Hagen 

 records it as a museum pest 

 in the insect collection at 

 Cambridge, Massachusetts, as 

 early as 1878. The slender 

 larva persists until it finds a 

 crack or slit in the box of 

 specimens and then enters to 

 feed upon the dead bodies of 

 the insects, thus causing 

 much injury. Again, it has 

 been caught doing damage 

 in flour mills and is some- 

 what of a feeder on cereal 

 products. Moreover, it is a frequent pest in feathers 

 and sometimes causes what is known as "felting" in 

 pillows. The short branches of the feathers which are 

 stripped off by the larvae in their feeding activities 

 become firmly stuck into the cloth and form a close 

 felting all over the inside of the ticking. Riley, in 

 a case observed by him, says, "The felting was re- 

 markably dense, evenly coating the whole surface of 

 the ticking and greatly resembling in softness, smooth- 

 ness, and color the fur of a mole." Finally, Lintner 

 found the larvae of this beetle in company with the 



Fig. 61. — Black carpet beetle. 

 (X 9.) 



