15 
beetles. It is considerably over half an inch long, somewhat flattened, 
shining, and nearly black. An enlarged antenna is shown at e. 
The eggs, one of which is shown at d, with its covering of meal, are 
white, bean-shaped, and about a twentieth of an inch long, and are 
deposited by the parent beetle in the meal or other substance which is 
to serve as the food of the future iarva. 
The beetles begin to appear in the latitude of Washington in April 
and May, occurring most abundantly in the latter month and in June. 
In about two weeks from the time the eggs are laid the infant meal- 
worm, which is at first clear white in color and with prominent antenne 
and legs, makes its appearance, and as it feeds voraciously its growth 
is rapid. In three months it attains approximate growth, and from 
then till the following spring undergoes little change. It then becomes 
a pupa, and in this state remains about a fortnight. It will therefore 
be seen that this species is annual in development, a single brood only 
appearing each year. The beetles are nocturnal, and, being moderately 
strong flyers, are often attracted to lights. They 
have the pungent odor characteristic of the flour Cee 
beetles and related species. 
THE DARK MEAL-WORM (Tenebrio obscurus Linn.). 
The darker of the two meal-worm larvee has been 
called by writers the American meal-worm, an ob- 
vious misnomer, as this species, like the preceding, 
is believed by scientists to have come originally 
from temperate Europe or Siberia and is, like other 
_ species most commonly found in the storehouse, an r 
introduced cosmopolite. Fia. 14—Tenebrio ob scu- 
(hie mature insect,ilustrated at fig. 14,is very 7: male—somewhat 
poten F enlarged (original). 
similar to the parent of the yellow meal- worm, being € 
of nearly the same dimensions but distinguishable by its color, which 
is dull piceous black. There are other points of difference, notably in 
the antennze, the third joint in the present species being perceptibly 
longer than in molitor. The larva also resembles that of the preced- 
ing, differing chiefly in its much darker brownish markings. The pupa, 
however, is of the same whitish color. 
The beetles, in the writer’s experience, begin to appear considerably 
earlier than do those of the yellow meal-worm. Hence, at Washington 
they may be found as early as the latter part of February, remaining 
till the first of July, occurring most abundantly in April and May. 

THE GRAIN BEETLES. 
Several species of clavicorn beetles of the family Cucujid oceur in 
granaries, mills, and warehouses in the same situations as species pre- 
viously treated. One of these is practically confined to the storehouse, 
usually following in the wake of other grain insects. The other two are 
