PTINUS PECTINICORNIS. 285 



PTINUS PECTINICORNIS. 



THOSE maggots that make worm-holes in tables, chairs, bed- 

 posts, &c., and destroy wooden furniture, especially where there 

 is any sap, are the larvae of the ptinus pectinicornis. This insect, 

 it is probable, deposits its eggs on the surface, and the worms 

 eat their way in. 



In their holes they turn into their pupae state, and so come 

 forth winged in July : eating their way through the valances or 

 curtains of a bed, or any other furniture that happens to obstruct 

 their passage. 



They seem to be most inclined to breed in beech ; hence beech 

 will not make lasting utensils, or furniture. If their eggs are 

 deposited on the surface, frequent rubbing will preserve wooden 

 furniture. 



COCKROACH. BLATTA ORIENTALIS. 



A NEIGHBOUR complained to me that her house was over-run 

 with a kind of black beetle, or as she expressed herself, with a 

 kind of black-bob, which swarmed in her kitchen when they got 

 up in a morning before day-break. 



Soon after this account, I observed an unusual insect in one 

 of my dark chimney closets, and find since, 

 that in the night they swarm also in my 

 kitchen. On examination, I soon ascer- 

 tained the species to be the blatta orien- 

 talis of Linnaeus, and the blatta molen- 

 dinaria of Mouffet. The male is winged; 

 the female is not, but shows somewhat like 

 the rudiments of wings, as if in the pupa 

 state. 



These insects belonged originally to the 

 warmer parts of America, and were con- 

 veyed from thence by shipping to the East Indies; and by 

 means of commerce begin to prevail in the more northern parts 

 of Europe, as Russia, Sweden, &c. How long they have 

 abounded in England I cannot say ; but have never observed 

 them in my house till lately. 



They love warmth, and haunt chimney-closets, and the backs 



