110 INJURIOUS INSECTS OF KANSAS. 



Remedies. — Rugs which are often taken up and shaken do not 

 offer suitable dwelling-places for the pest. AVhen carpets are 

 used, and only taken up once a year, the Buffalo Beetle finds a 

 secure haven, and rejoices accordingly. 



At house-cleaning time, carpets should be removed at the same 

 time from as many rooms as possible, the rooms thoroughly 

 cleaned, and benzine carefully puffed with a hand-atomizer into 

 all cracks and crevices in the floor; particular attention should 

 be given the base boards. In addition, it would be advisable to 

 fill the floor cracks with a mixture of plaster of Paris and water, 

 which, on setting, will leave no convenient homes of refuge for the 

 pest. Around the borders of the room a width of tarred paper 

 should be laid, and the carpets, which should have been thor- 

 oughly beaten, lightly sprayed with benzine, and aired, then relaid. 



Dr. Riley says that in a room so cleaned the pest will probably 

 be unable to gain a foot-hold during the ensuing year. 



Dr. Riley recommends, for times other than house cleaning, the 

 laying of a damp cloth over suspected places in the carpet, and 

 ironing it with a hot iron. The steam thus generated will pass 

 through the carpet and kill all the insects immediately beneath. 

 Hot water poured along the edges of the carpets is recommended. 



If the pests are in furniture or clothing, they may be killed by 

 spraying with benzine or gasoline. Remember that these sub- 

 stances are highly inflammable. 



CLOTH BS-MOTH. 



{Tinea pellionella Linn.; Order, Lepidoptera.) 



Diagnosis. — A number of small, cylindrical rolls or cases, in 

 each of which is a small, white, soft-bodied grub ( larva) ; feeding 

 on woolens, hair-cloth, fur, or feathers. 



Description and Life-history. — The adult insect is a very small, 

 light-brown moth, the wings expanding about one-third of an 

 inch. They begin to appear in May, and are to be seen through 

 the summer. The eggs are laid on garments hanging in closets 

 and wardrobes, on stored furs, feathers, etc. The larvae, immedi- 

 ately on hatching, make small, cylindrical rolls or cases from bits 

 of the cloth or fur upon which they are feeding. The larva is 



