INSECTS AFFECTING HOUSEHOLD GOODS 223 



feed. The larvae are about one-fifth inch long when grown 

 and are covered with thick tufts of coarse brown hairs, 

 longer at the sides and at the two ends,, which have probably 

 given the insect its common name of Buffalo Moth. They 

 feed on furs and feathers, but preferably on woolens, and 

 frequently on the under sides of woolen carpets, especially 

 where they can conceal themselves in floor cracks. 



Where rugs can be substituted for carpets there is much 

 less liability of injury by this pest, as well as by fleas. Infested 



FIG. 155. The carpet beetle (Anthrenus scrophularwe) . (From Riley.) 



a, larva, dorsal view; b, pupa within larval skin; c, pupa, ventral view; d, 

 adult. All enlarged. 



carpets should be steam-cleaned wherever possible so as to 

 destroy the eggs. If this is not possible, heating the carpet 

 to 125 will probably be fatal to all eggs and larvse. 

 Cracks should be soaked with gasoline and then filled with 

 a crack-filler. The same methods of control and prevention 

 as advised for clothes moths (page 222), will also prove 

 effective. 



A nearly related species known as the Black Carpet 

 Beetle* has very similar habits. It is a black or rusty-black, 

 slightly downy, oval beetle about 3/16 of an inch long and 

 * Attagenus piceus Oliv. Family Dermestidce. 



