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REPORT ON A BEETLE DESTROYING BOOTS AND SHOES 

 IN A SYDNEY WAREHOUSE, 



TO THE CUEATOB OF THE 



TECHNOLOGICAL MUSEUM, SYDNEY, 



Acting under your instructions, on the 7th October I 

 visited the warehouse reported to you, to obtain specimens and 

 all information about a beetle said to be infesting some trunks 

 of imported boots, and damaging the contents. 



I examined five infested trunks of various qualities of boots 

 and shoes ; ordinary men's leather boots, ladies' kids, and carpet 

 slippers were all attacked in a similar manner. 



The chief point of assault seems to be the soles, which 

 are often completely riddled with small transverse and vertical 

 burrows made by the larvae of these insects. Another favourite 

 place of abode is in the tips of the uppers, but some samples 

 showed signs of their handiwork everywhere. 



They were first noticed in the sample bins, where the samples 

 used by the firm's travellers were kept when returned, and 

 were thought to have been introduced into the warehouse in 

 these boots, until further investigation showed that there were 

 infested trunks in other parts of the building. 



As far as is yet known, all the damaged goods are of English 

 manufacture, none of those imported from continental houses 

 showing signs of these pests. 



As the eggs and larvae of many beetles under normal sur- 

 roundings often take a considerable time to come to maturity, 

 it is quite possible that these came into the boot-trunks in the 

 egg or larval state, either in the finished leather or in some of 

 the material used in making up the boots, and since undisturbed 

 have there undergone their metamorphoses. 



I obtained a large number of specimens of the beetles, the 

 active larvae, and the quiescent pupae, together with several 



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