DERMESTES. LEATHER-CHAFFER. 



Generic Character. 



Antenna davated, with per- 

 foliate tip, the three last 

 joints being larger than 

 the rest. 



Thorax convex, scarce or 

 very slightly margined. 



Head withdrawn at pleasure 

 beneath the thorax. 



Antenna clavatae, capitulo 

 perfoliato: articulistribus 

 crassioribus. 



Thorax convexus, vix mar- 



ginatus. 

 Caput sub thorace inflexum 



condens. 



JL HIS genus consists chiefly of small insects. 

 Their larvae are found among skins, furs, and vari- 

 ous animal substances, of a dry kind, which they 

 gradually injure, and are numbered among the 

 most destructive insects in Museums, devouring 

 specimens of birds, "quadrupeds, collections of 

 dried plants, &c. : they are of a lengthened oval 

 shape, and more or less hairy, especially towards 

 the end of the body, where, in some, the hairs 

 form a kind of spreading tuft, which the animal 

 raises on being suddenly disturbed. The complete 

 insects are mostly of a lengthened oval shape, 

 and have a habit of withdrawing the head be- 

 neath the thorax when handled. One of the most. 

 familiar species is the Dermestes lardarius y which 

 is about a third of an inch in length, and of a 



