INSECTS. 



213 



it is almost impossible to get rid of it. It lays its eggs on specimens of 

 every sort, and the larvae soon riddle them. Nothing of organic nature 

 seems to be proof against them, for they bore through the hardest horn 

 as easily as through the skin of a bird. They and their allies make the 

 curator's life a burden. He is continually resorting to benzine, bisulphide 

 of carbon, and other insecticides ; but the best he can do is to check, not 

 eradicate, the evil. 



In this work the museum-beetle is frequently aided by the larger bacon- 

 beetle, shown in the foreground of Figure 208. This attacks other things 

 besides museum collections, and not infrequently proves an almost intoler- 

 able nuisance in storehouses; the species to the right is almost equally 

 destructive, but is not quite so abundant, and has not received any common 

 name. 



All these species, however, pale before the first cousin of the museum- 

 beetle, the much-dreaded carpet-beetle or buffalo-bug, of which the next 

 illustration shows 

 both the larva and 

 the adult. This, like 

 many of our most in- 

 jurious insects, has 

 been imported from 

 Europe. In the Old 

 World it fed upon 

 flowers frequently, 

 varying its diet with 

 dried meats and 

 similar substances. 

 In 1874 it first be- 

 came prominent in the United States with changed appetite. 



Fig. 209. — Larva, pupa, and adult of the carpet-beetle or 



{Anthrenvs scrophvlarix). 



■ buffalo-l'iii.' ' 



It 



negl< 



its former food and shows a marked predilection for carpets, woolen 

 goods, and furs. It possesses great vitality ; ordinary insecticides are of 

 no avail against it ; it laughs at tobacco, pyrethrum, camphor, and the like, 

 and no one has yet found a way to kill it off. When it once gets entrance 

 to a house, the only course to prevent its damage is to dispense with 

 carpets entirely, and to use in their place rugs, which can be easily taken 

 up and beaten. 



The carrion-beetles must be regarded as friends of man. for they and 

 their larvce feed largely upon decaying animal matter. They have the 

 sense of smell well developed, and as soon as a rat or mole or any lai 

 animal begins to decay, they come flying to it. seeking a place to lay their 

 eggs. Some of them are dull colored, but others are prettily marked with 



