r)f)() FAMil,N' .\.\l\'.- -DKK.MIOSTll).]-:. 



beetle, llic larva <it' wliidi i-^ known as llic iJiilValo iiiolli. It is 

 a Eim)))eaii s[)('cies, whicli nuidc ils apiH'ai'aiu'e in the eastern 

 United States about IST-i. and has sinee been widely distributed, 

 l)eeomin^ one of the woi-st of household pests. In the larval stage 

 it feeds upon carpels and woolen ii'(«)ds, fui's and feathers. The 

 larva is a sliort fat grul) about one-fifth of an inch in length, 

 clothed WMth stiff brown hairs, with short tufts of similar hairs 

 on the sides of each segment and a longer tuft at the extremity, 

 forming a tail-like ])rojection. (Fig. "227, b.) It occurs all the 

 yeai' round in well-heated lumses, bnt more frequently in summer 

 and fall, in the cracks of floors near the edges of rooms and beneath 

 furnitur(\ It feeds upon the wooh'u tibres of the carpet, often fol- 

 lowing the line of a floor crack and cutting long slits. When full 

 grown it contracts, sheds its skin and becomes a (|uiescent pupa. In 

 this stage it remains for several weeks, or even months, the length 

 of time depending- upon the temperature and surroundings. The 

 mature beetles l)egin to apjiear in October and are found about the 

 house in winter, being most abundant in spring wiien th(\v are nuit- 

 ing, and may be often tak'(Mi at the windows while trying to escape. 



Where it his once l)ecome inslaHed notliing but the most thor- 

 ough and long-continued measures will eradicate this I)eetle. Dr. 

 L. O. Howard, in writing of the known remedies sa\s: "In Europe 

 it is not espc'.'ially noted as a iKuisehold pest, and tliis is doubtless 

 owing to the fact that carpets are little used. In this country car- 

 pets once put down are seldom taken up for a year, and in the mean- 

 time the insect develo])s uninterrui)tedly. Where polished floors 

 and rugs are used, the rugs should be taken up and beaten, and in 

 the same way woolens and furs should never be allowed to remain 

 undisturbed foi* an entii-e year. It is a well-known fact that the 

 carpet habit is a bad one from othei- points of view, and there is 

 little doubt that if carpets were more generally discarded in our 

 more northern States, the Buffalo bug would cease to be the house- 

 hold pest that it is today." 



"Wher-e convenience or conservatism demaiids an adherence to 

 Wic old custom. liowcNcr. we have simply lo insist upon extreme thor- 

 oughness and a sliuht variation in the custt)mai'v methods. The 

 rooms should be attended to one or two at a. time. The carpets 

 should be taken up. Ilioi'oughly beaten, and s|)rayed out of doors 

 with benzine, and allowed to ail" foT' several Ikuii's. 'I'he rooms them- 

 selves should be Ihorouglily swept and dusted, the floors washed 

 down with hot watei'. the cracl<s carefully cleaned out and kerosene 

 or benzine poui-ed into the cracks and sprayed undei" the baseboards. 



