294 



HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



Fig. 100. — Larva of cigarette 

 beetle. (X 20.) 



climate of the South breeds most of the year, while in 

 heated factories and rooms of the North it probably 

 breeds continuously. There are evidently two generations 

 a year, at least in the latitude of Washington. The eggs 



hatch in about eleven days 

 and the larvae may live two 

 months or more before com- 

 pleting their growth. When 

 full-grown the larva spins a 

 silken cocoon covered with 

 bits of the material on 

 which it is feeding. The 

 whole life cycle may be 

 passed in forty-seven days 

 under favorable conditions. 

 It is interesting and of some satisfaction to know that 

 the larvae of the cigarette beetle are attacked by a tiny 

 w r asp-like parasite (Catolaccus anthonomi Ash). The 

 parasite lays its eggs in the larvae of the beetle, where they 

 hatch, and the tiny grubs destroy their hosts. It is probable 

 that this parasite would not exterminate the beetles, but 

 it would undoubtedly hold them in check. 



References to Economic Literature on the Cigarette Beetle 



1886. Atkinson, G. F. — The cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serri- 



corne, Fab. Jour. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc, pp. 68-73. 

 1893. Riley and Howard. — Cigarette beetle eating silk. Insect 



Life, Vol. 6, p. 40. 

 1896. Chittenden, F. H. — The principal household insects of the 



U. S. Bull. 4, Bu. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agri., pp. 126-127. 

 1898. Quaintance, A. L. — Insect enemies of tobacco in Florida. 



Bull. 48, Fla. Expt. Stat., pp. 175-177. 

 1900. Howard, L. O. — The principal insects affecting the tobacco 



plant. Farmers' Bull. 120, U. S. Dept. Agri., pp. 26-30. 



