The Book-Louse. 



473 



The Book-Louse. 



When one is turning over the pages of an old book the attention is frequently 

 drawn to a minute, almost colourless, wingless Insect that runs along with com- 

 parative swiftness. This is the so-called book-louse, ^ a name we hardly like to use 

 because of the misleading nature of its second half. Let us say at once, to put the 

 reader at his ease, that the Insect known as the book-louse has no relationship to 

 the j)ersonal vermin from which j)art of its name has been borrowed, nor does it 

 resemble it at all in habits, or in anything but a very superficial likeness of form. 

 Still, it has been mistaken for the real thing by many who, ha])pilv, have had no 

 close acquaintance with the latter. We have several times bcn^i the recipients of 

 specimens of the book-louse sent in carefully-jjacked 

 sealed tubes accompanied by letters almost implor- 

 ingly begging us to assure the sender that they were 

 not samples of the loathed one, and asking for in- 

 structions how to get rid of such unpleasant-looking 

 creatures. One such communication was from a lad\' 

 who had recently changed her residence, and found 

 that a certain room swarmed with these Insects 

 which she thought were of the legitimatelv-detested 

 species, and her object was clearly to obtain an 

 opinion from us which would justifv her in breaking 

 her three-years agreement. Our report did not 

 sanction such a course, though we hoped that e\-en- 

 tually it relieved her mind. 



This little book-louse, thougli it causes great 

 anxiety to the collector of Insects, may be regarded 

 with unconcern bv others. It is destructive without 

 doubt, but imless it has such fragile things as Insects 

 to exercise its minute jaws upon, it causes no appre- Ph<>tos i,y] 

 ciable damage. Hut if it gets into the tightlv glazed 



[H. Miini, F.E.S. 



The Aphis-Lion's Cocoon. 



When the aphis-l ion is full fed it spins a flimsy 



drawers of the ("ntomolouical cabinet — introduced <<)cooii of open network, koopins; its lu-ap of 



"old clotlK's " on thi- outside. Here it changes 



l)(M-haps on a specimen received from a less careful toachrysaiis. The photographs show it prior 



■,, . . t" eastuig olT the grub-skui. Magnihed 



collector it may work great mischief before its 'i^.^ times 



presence is suspected. The first sign is a little im])al])able dust under one or more of 

 the specimens. TIumt, if neglected, an antenna may drop olT, and the wings begin 

 to look shabby owing to the bright scales being eaten off the surface. 



If we secure one of these miscreants in a shallow, glass-topped box, we can 

 view him with a pocket-lens, and learn more of his appearance. The len< i- 

 necessary, for mature s])ecimens an; onlv about one-twentieth of an inch in K iiL^tli. 

 With the aid of this instnimtMit it will Ix' seen to present a fairlv close resemblance 

 to a worker white ant. The internal structure is very different, but the book-lice - 

 are included in the same order ^ of Insect-life as the termites. Like the workers 

 of the latter tribe, the book-louse never de\'elops wings, though a very similar 

 alHed Insect '* does so. It has the same kind of soft int(\gument as the termite, 



^ Atr()jH)s (livinutoria. 



- Psocidac. 



■' Nciinipti-r; 



Clolhilla. 



