280 HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



Methods of control. — In the household this insect 

 is not a serious pest. Moreover, the injury is not so great 

 as it, at first sight, may seem. If a ham should become 

 infested, the outer meat containing the worms could be 

 cut off and thrown away. The inner meat usually remains 

 sweet and unaffected and is perfectly good to use. 



When a ham comes from the dealer infested, it can, of 

 course, be returned at once. 



In the case of packers and wholesale dealers the hams 

 should be wrapped early in the season, before the first 

 of May, with a strong canvas that will not break through 

 or wear away. Great pains should be taken to close up 

 all cracks in the wrapping so that no places will be left 

 through which the beetles may gain access to the meat. 



References to Economic Literature on the Ham Beetle 



1874. Riley, C. V. — Red-legged ham-beetle. Sixth Ann. Rept. 



of the State Ent. of Mo., p. 96. 

 1896. Howard, L. O. — The principal household insects of the 



United States. Bull. 4, Bu. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agri., p. 105. 

 1905. Kellogg, V. L. — American insects, p. 270. 



THE CHEESE AND HAM MITES 



Tyroglyphus longior, T. farinw, T. americanus, et al. 



Cheese, hams, and various other food products are often 

 infested with enormous numbers of minute, pale-colored, 

 eight-legged creatures, known as mites. These creatures 

 are not true insects, for they have eight long legs (Fig. 

 91) and differ in other ways from their six-legged cousins. 

 Near relatives of these mites are the common ticks that 

 occur on dogs and cattle. These mites have a long list of 



