226 HOUSE, GARDEN, AND FIELD 



nutritious and easier of digestion ; the time during which 

 it can be procured is limited to the warm season, and 

 many enemies await the larva. Its best policy is to feed 

 without intermission, and get the dangerous growing 

 period over as soon as possible. We have seen that the 

 larval stage of a furniture-beetle lasts three years, and 

 subterranean, root-eating larvae, such as wire-worms, may 

 go on feeding as long or even longer. But the leaf -eating 

 larva of the turnip-beetle is full-fed in a week. 



When the end of its protracted feeding-time draws near, 

 the grub of the furniture-beetle prolongs its burrow nearly 

 to the surface of the wood, and here it is said (I cannot 

 vouch for the fact) to spin for itself a cocoon of silk inter- 

 woven with particles of wood. Then it pupates, and in 

 due course the beetle emerges, the thin barrier of wood, 

 which was left as a protective covering to the burrow, 

 being easily broken down. The beetle is 3 or 4 mm. 

 (J to J in.) long, and of a dull brown colour, varied on 

 the sides of the body with greyish hairs. The head is 

 bent downwards and sunk into the pro thorax, which covers 

 it like a hood ; it does not appear when the insect is seen 

 from above. The legs can be tucked under the body, so 

 that it is a simple matter for the beetle, when alarmed 

 to sham dead, its rounded shape, inconspicuous colour 

 and complete immobility allowing it to pass for a mere 

 pellet. 



The beetles often strike the wood of their galleries with 

 their heads, and so produce a ticking sound, which is a 

 call to the mate. The ticking is most frequent in the 

 summer months, but in warmed rooms it may be heard 

 at any time of the year. The commonest of our furniture- 

 beetles is called Anobium domesticum (or striatum) ; 

 this is the beetle whose dimensions were given above. 

 Another species, which is nearly twice as long (Anobium 

 tesselatum), has very similar habits, and is the beetle 

 which has most frequently been heard to tick. In the 

 dead of night this ticking sound, distinct but inexplicable, 



