INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CEREALS 231 



bogies had plagued him. He said they were around the 

 dresser and had kept him awake most of the night by the 

 incessant scratching sounds produced somewhere about 

 the furniture. Investigation showed that the scratching 

 noises were present and were evidently issuing from a large 

 pincushion lying on the dresser. When opened and the 

 filling, composed of coarse shorts used as a food for horses, 

 had been shaken out, several large black beetles of this 

 species appeared among the grain. Evidently some of the 

 larvse or beetles had been inclosed with the shorts and 

 had been breeding in the meantime within the cushion. 

 The grain had served as food for them. 



Methods of control. — The most practicable remedy is 

 fumigation with carbon bisulfide, especially in granaries 

 and meal bins. If meal or flour becomes infested in the 

 house, it can be placed in a tight box or barrel and fumi- 

 gated. After fumigation, the meal or flour should be 

 carefully sifted in order to remove the dead bodies of the 

 insects. As in other cases already recommended, the 

 carbon bisulfide should be used at the rate of two pounds 

 to 1000 cubic feet of space. Half a teacupful should be 

 ample for 50 pounds of meal or flour if the fumigation is 

 done in a small tight box or barrel. 



It will be necessary to thoroughly clean the box or bin 

 before putting in a new supply of flour. 



References to Literature on the Meal-worms 

 Tenebrio molitor 



1889. Riley, C. V., and Howard, L. O. — Larvae of Tenebrio 

 molitor in a woman's stomach. Insect Life, Vol. 1, pp. 379-380. 

 1889. Beetles in a pincushion. Insect Life, Vol. 2, p. 148. 



