104 



APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY 



The Buffalo Carpet Beetle {Anthrenus scrophularice L.). — The adult of this 

 insect is a tiny beetle about three-sixteenths of an inch long, mottled black and 

 white, with a red line having three pairs of side branches or lobes, down the middle 

 of its back (Fig. 92). It is a household pest -in the northeastern states and as 

 far west as Iowa and Kansas. In Europe, of which country it is a native, it 

 does not appear to be of much importance. The beetles appear in the fall and 

 may continue to be found in heated houses all winter. The eggs are laid on 

 woolen cloth or clothes, carpets, rugs, furs, feathers or silk, all of these being 

 animal products, and the small hairy larvse feed on the materials named. After 

 pupation has been completed, the adults appear and are often noticed on windows. 

 In the spring months, probably after laying their eggs, the beetles appear out- 

 of-doors and feed on the pollen of various blossoms, the Spircea being a favorite. 



Fig. 9U. 



Fig. 91. 



Fm. 92. 



Fig. 90. — Adult Larder Beetle {Dermesies lardarius L.) four times natural size. {From 

 Herrick's Insects Injurious to the Household. By Permission of the Macmillan Company, 

 Publishers.) 



Fig. 91. — Larva of the Larder Beetle, three times natural size. {From Herrick's 

 Insects Injurious to the Household. By Permission of the Macm.illan Com,pany, Publishers.) 



Fig. 92. — Adult Buffalo Carpet Beetle {Anthrenus scrophularice L.), nine times natural 

 size. {From Herrick's Insects Injurious to the Household. By Permission of the Macmillan 

 Com.pany, Publishers.) 



Whether there is more than one generation a season has not been definitely 

 settled. Many of the larvae breed in floor cracks under carpets and rugs, on the 

 woolen debris there. 



A somewhat similar, closely related beetle, the Black Carpet Beetle (Attagenus 

 piceus Oliv.), also of European origin, and dull black in color (Fig. 93), is likewise 

 an enemy to the same general class of materials as the Buffalo Carpet Beetle. 

 It appears to be a pest farther south than the last-named insect. The larva 

 (Fig. 94) is longer and more slender than that of the Buffalo Carpet Beetle, reddish- 

 brown, and with a tuft of long hairs at the end of its body. 



Control of Carpet Beetles. — These insects are repelled by the odors of various 

 substances, and clothing, furs, feathers, etc., when put away, can be protected 

 from their attacks by placing them in tight bags or boxes, together with the repel- 

 lent. Naphthaline ("moth balls") is the most effective for this purpose, and 



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