THE COLEOPTERA 



105 



the oil in cedar wood is also of value, hence the use of cedar chests for storage 

 purposes, these giving some protection as long as their odor lasts. Camphor also 

 is a fair repellent. But with all these materials the tendency is to use too little, 

 and in such cases the insects are not driven off. Then too, if the food of these pests 

 be put away with either eggs or larvae present, the repellent will not prevent the 

 larvae from feeding. The best practice therefore, is to fumigate all material 

 likely to be attacked, before packing it away, placing it in a tight box and treating 

 it with Carbon disulfid for 24 hr. Then add a liberal supply of moth balls and 

 close tightly. The fumingation will destroy these pests in any stage in which 



Fig. 93. Fig. 94. 



Fig. 93. — Adult Black Carpet Beetle (Atiagenvs piceus Oliv.), enlarged nine times. 

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

 Company, Publishers.) 



Fig. 94.^ — Larva of the Black Carpet Beetle, five times natural size. (From 

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

 Publishers.) 



they may be present, while the naphthaline will keep out adults which might 

 otherwise enter thereafter. Fumigation of a room or an entire house if necessary, 

 with Hydrocyanic acid gas, or sulfur, is also a good treatment, though if the latter 

 substance be used its effect upon metals, and on colors in clothes and wallpapers 

 should be remembered. Carpets may be steam-cleaned, this killing the pest in all 

 stages, and cold storage for furs and feathers at least, if the temperature be kept 

 below 40°F. will prevent injury, though not necessarily killing any of the insects 

 which may be present. As some of the larvae may be in floor cracks when carpets 

 and rugs are infested, these should be treated with kerosene or gasoline. Woolen 

 clothing kept in closets during the warmer seasons of the year should be frequently 

 brushed out and aired in the sunlight. 



Family Buprestidae (Flat-headed Borers). — This group of beetles 

 contains many forms which injure trees by boring in their trunks. 

 Others attack berry canes which often show swellings as a result. A 

 few are leaf miners or gall makers. The adults are generally stout, 

 robust beetles with heads set into the thorax, rather flat backs, and in 

 general dark colored but with a metallic luster, though a few are bright 



