‘ 
nt, SECTS, 
Us DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology, L. O. Howard, Chief. 
December 2, 1914. 
THE CARPET BEETLE OR “BUFFALO MOTH.” 
By L. O. Howarp, 
Entomologist and Chief of Bureau. 
GENERAL APPEARANCE AND METHOD OF WORK. 
All the year around, in well-heated houses, but more frequently in 
summer and fall, an active brown larva a quarter of an inch or less in 
length and clothed with stiff brown hairs, which are longer around 
Fic. 1.—The carpet beetle (Anthrenus scrophulariz): a, Larva, dorsal view; b, pupa within larval skin; 
¢, pupa, ventral view; d, adult. Allenlarged (from Riley). 
the sides and still longer at the ends than on the back, feeds upon 
carpets and woolen goods, working in a hidden manner from the 
under surface, sometimes making irregular holes, but more frequently 
following the line of a floor crack and cutting long slits in a carpet. 
DISTRIBUTION. 
This insect in the United States is known as a carpet beetle only in 
the northern part of the country. It is not known as a carpet beetle 
in Washington or Baltimore, although in Washington and in places 
in the more southern States it has been occasionally met with during 
1Anthrenus scrophulariz L.; Order Coleoptera, Family Dermestide. 
Notr.—This bulletin is of interest to housewives in the Northern States. 
63922°—Bull. 626—14 
