378 y AT URAL HISTuny OF AHTHUUPUDi;. 



genera (exceitt Dermestes) have an ocellus on the front. These beetles, together with 

 their larvie, feed upon a variety of substances, both animal and vegetable. Some of the 

 species are the most dangerous of museum-iX'Sts ; others attack food in the pantrv, 

 store, or warehouse; drugs do not escajie tlieir attaclc, species devouriug even can- 

 tharides and tobacco ; woollen and silk goods, feathers, and furs are ruined if left long 

 exjioscd to their depredations; and one species is accused of biting young doves. 

 The Derniestidie feign ileatli, and do it so skilfully and for so long a time that thev 

 are sometimes left for dead, only to escape and renew their dejiredations. Their oval 

 larvffi, which do more injury tlian the beetles, are usually covered with long brown 

 luiir, and in some cases these hairs are beautiful spear-like objects for microscojjieal 

 examination. The larva^ moult a larger number of times than is commonly the case 

 with ficelle larv;e, probably eight or more times. 



Dennesies lardarius, the bacon-beetle, which is about (t.o of an inch long, is 

 brownish black, except the anterior half of the elytra, which are gray, spotted with 

 black. This beetle has become eosmoiiolitan. It cats wool, silk, hair, horn, hoofs, and 

 other substances, and often attacks neglected collections of insects. Its larva is about 

 0.45 of an inch long, and tapers somewhat from the anterior toward the posterior end. 

 This larva was first described by Goedart, in 1667, and has been reclescribed since that 

 time by many entomologists. 



The species of Attagenus are generally smaller and less elongated than those of 

 Dermestes. They ha\-e an ocellus on the front, the middle coxae are near together, the 

 prosternum is not lobed anteriorly, and the antennre are eleven-jointed. A. 2}eIlio is 

 about O.li of an inch long, and dark brown with a white dot near the middle of each 

 elytron. The abdomen of its larva cuds in a piMicil of long hairs. A. megatoma, and 

 ])ossibly at times other species of the genus, are the cause of a kind of felting of 

 pillows and bed-ticks that is often a jnizzle for housewives. These insects, having 

 gained access to tlie inside of a bed-tick, breed in it, and bite off pieces of the feathers. 

 These jiieces, on account of the rolling and tumbling to which tliey are subjected in 

 the Ix'd, are driven, basal end first, into the ticking, where they are retained by the 

 barbed nature of their tip, all of the liranchlets pointing backwards. What is curious 

 about this felting, which resembles mole-skin, is its remarkable evenness and beauty. 

 A piece, from winch I saw a samjile several years ago, was made \x\i into a lady's 

 cloak, and suggested the jiossibility of iiroducing this kind of dress-goods by using 

 Hock-cutters and fulling-mills to replace the slow processes by which this piece was 

 made. 



Anthreiiiis has been long well known to most collectors of jilauts and animals, and 

 has lately introduced itself in America to the unwilling recognition of housewives. 

 Two species, A. vdrtiis and A. miisreorum, ncitlier of tlu-m much larger than a good- 

 sized pin-head, arc the best-known museum-pests. They 

 are gray spotted with light brown. The beetles gain 

 access to collections, and dc])Osit their eggs tipon in- 

 sects, stuffcil anim.-ils, and other dried animal matter. 

 The larva when hatched bores into the sjiecimens, often- 

 times completely riddling or ruining them, and finally 

 TiG.im.—Anthrenut^miisunrum. pupatcs witliiu them. Their presence in collections 

 ''"''"■ of insects is betrayed by the debris which falls from 



the sjiecimens attacked. To keep museum-] lests from collections, resort is made 

 to camphor, carbolic acid, naphthalin, and many other substances, which are kept 



