[23] Report of the State Entomologist. 119 



in newspapers), that so criminal a blunder could be made. There is 

 no resemblance between the two in ornamentation (see figure of the 

 carpet-beetle herewith presented), while in size the lady-bug is per- 

 haps eight times the larger in surface. 



It is hardly necessary to add to the above that the Adalia is entirely 

 harmless in its visits within doors, not feeding in the slightest degree 

 upon woolens, cottons or silks or other fabrics. 



Odor of the Beetle. 

 Its peculiar odor, referred to in the communication from Pough- 

 keepsie, has long been known. It is caused by a yellowish viscid sub- 

 stance, which is thrown out from the joints of the legs, when the 

 insect is taken in the hand, as in the oil-beetles and blister-beetles of 

 Meloe, Cantharis, etc., of another family. This secretion, at a time 

 when many insects were employed in medicine, was supposed to 

 possess medicinal properties, and the beetle was recommended, and 

 we believe, used for relief from tooth-ache by crushing its body and 

 placing a portion in the cavity of a decayed tooth. 



Dermestes lardarius Linn. 



TJie Bacon Beetle. 



(Ord. Coleopteea: Fam. Dermestid^.) 



Dermestes lardarius Lixn^us: Faun. Suec, 1st edit., 1740, p. 135, 360; 

 2d edit., 1761, p. 1-10, 408. 



This common household pest is frequently received for name, with 

 inquiry of its habits and a remedy for its attack. The following is 

 one of the notes of inquiry received: 



Inclosed you will find several bugs and larvee which I found des- 

 troying our bacon. Will you please tell me what they are, and if 

 there is any way of preventing their ravages ? Our meat was mostly 

 put in heavy meat sacks; some was in muslin lined with paper, and a 

 few i^ieces were without either. The meat was encased in sacks about 

 the lirsfc of March, and hung up in the garret. The sides were free 

 from them although without sacks. If there is a remedy, please let 

 us have it. 



The insects seut with the above are "the larder-beetle," or as more 

 generally designated, from its particular fondness for bacon, "the 

 bacon-beetle." They present the following appearance, which is so 

 marked that they may be easily identified: 



