268 INSECTS AND MAN 



burrow, and there, of course, the adults emerge. Anobium 

 paniceum, the biscuit weevil, is also a wood-borer, though 

 less so than domesticum, for it prefers dry vegetable food 

 such as bread, biscuits, ginger, etc. 



Another wood-boring beetle of our houses is Xestobium 

 tessellatum, the well-known " death watch," which, except 

 for its larger size it is about half an inch long, resembles 

 Anobium domesticum fairly closely. The insect and its 

 tapping was described so long ago as 1698, and, till quite 

 recently, was supposed to portend death; now, however, 

 we live in more matter-of-fact times, and the wood-boring 

 habits of the beetle are more dreaded than its ill-omened 

 tapping. 



Two common and peculiar household beetles are Niptus 

 hololeucus and Gibbium scotias. The former, which is of 

 a yellowish colour and silky sheen, is almost spider-like 

 in appearance, though in reality quite distinct from these 

 creatures, which are not insects. Niptus is peculiar in 

 having no wings and fused wing-cases; it obtains its 

 nourishment from various household provisions, and is 

 said to have been introduced into this country in Turkey 

 carpets. Gibbium scotias (fig. 73) when at rest, on account 

 of its colour, resembles a drop of blood, or it may be 

 likened to a large mite. Like many other insects, it feeds 

 upon dried paste, which it finds on wall-paper, book 

 bindings, etc. 



The leather beetles, Dermestidce, are a most destructive 

 family, and of them Dermestes lardarius and Dermestes 

 vulpinus must serve as examples for the whole family. 

 Lardarius, known as the larder beetle, is widely distributed 

 in Britain, Europe, America, and Asia. In colour it is 

 very dark brown or almost black, banded with a pale 

 yellowish-brown band right across the bases of the wing 

 covers ; in length it is about a third of an inch. Its life- 

 history has not been fully and carefully studied, but it is 

 known that the beetle deposits its eggs on such substances 



