BACON OR HAM BEETLE 



297 



spread along the mop boards of the kitchen and about the sink 

 every night for a week or more has been found efficacious in caus- 

 ing the pests to disappear. One housekeeper also reported success 

 with powdered borax spread on bread or banana and placed where 

 the roaches can feed on this poison. A good bait is made by mixing 

 equal parts of sweet chocolate and powdered borax. This should 

 be scattered where the roaches are plentiful. Several proprietary 

 articles for the control of this insect are on the market, some of 



FIG. 306. The bacon or ham beetle, larva and adult. (U. S. Bu. Ent.) 



them being regarded as very good. Where the pest occurs in 

 apartment buildings, the problem of eradication becomes more 

 difficult on account of the easy means of communication between 

 the floors. Cockroaches appear to avoid arsenical poisons. Squirt 

 gasoline behind base boards, in cracks, and all hiding places. 



Bacon or Ham Beetle. This is a stout black beetle (Dermestes 

 lardarius Linn.), something less than one-half of an inch long, 

 with a band of grayish-yellow scales covering half the back. 

 The larva is a worm-like grub; when full grown it is brown and 

 hairy (Fig. 306). The adults are found abundantly during early 



