ENTOMOLOGY 223 



entomological writers until the last few years. It seems now to be 

 on the increase, and has already become a pest of no little signifi- 

 cance. This insect is quite abundant, doing much damage to all 

 forms of cereal produce, corn, cotton-seed, peanuts, dried fruits, and 

 like substances. It attacks the herbarium specimens, bird-skins, 

 and insect collection. To the latter it does most damage; presence in 

 the specimens is indicated by the accumulation of dust beneath, on 

 the bottom of the box. If an infested specimen be examined it will 

 be found to be perforated with small holes which these pests have 

 made. They feed upon the dried tissues within where their larval 

 and pupal stages are passed. 



Unless an insect case is exceedingly tight they find their way in- 

 side, their flat bodies enabling them to pass through very small 

 cracks. Frequent inspections of the collections, and fumigation with 

 carbon bi-sulphide is the means employed in keeping them in check. 



The adult is a small beetle of a rust-red color, being a little more 

 than an eighth of an inch in length. The body is greatly flattened, 

 and is elongated. The larva is about one-fourth of an inch in length, 

 and is quite active. It is of a whitish color ; provided with three pairs 

 of legs, and with numerous hair-like bristles distributed over the 

 body. 



Eggs are deposited by the adult females, in the food upon which 

 they feed. These hatch into minute, pale colored Iarva3 which when 

 in flour, meal, and similar products are rarely detected on account 

 of their small size. These grow into full-sized larvae which pupate 

 and give origin to the adult beetles. The entire life cycle requires 

 probably from thirty-five to forty days. In this climate it is quite 

 probable that they breed throughout the year. This insect will at- 

 tack corn while yet in the field, doing damage before the corn be- 

 comes hard. 



The Red Grain Beetle. This small red beetle is a pest of con- 

 siderable importance in the Southern States. It attacks corn, peas, 

 and the cotton-bolls of the cotton-plant in the field, and will con- 

 tinue breeding in corn after it has been gathered. Specimens of this 

 insect were also found infesting bird-skins in the college collection. 



The adult is a small, flat, reddish beetle, measuring one-tenth 

 of an inch in length. The larva when full grown is about the same 

 length as the adult. It has a somewhat flattened body, of a whitish 

 yellow color, with the head brownish. The eggs, which are laid at 

 the base of the grains of corn, soon hatch into small larvae which at 

 once eat into the grain. In the course of three weeks the larvae be- 

 come full grown, and transform into pupae. This state lasts about 

 two weeks, when the adults appear. These insects are very prolific 

 and in infested corn stored away in the fall, they soon become quite 

 numerous. It is probable that eight or ten generations are reared 

 annually, and in some portions breeding is probably continuous. 



The Corn Silvanus. The saw-toothed grain beetle is a small 

 insect of the family Cucujidae. The majority of the insects of this 

 family live under bark and are carnivorous both in the larval and 

 adult stages. The corn Silvanus, and some others of this family, 



