INTRODUCTORY. 3 



eradicating from household furniture a mite which 

 made its appearance a few months ago in myriads in a 

 bedroom, and has now spread over the whole house ? 

 The furniture has been exposed to sulphurous acid 

 fumes, saturated with solution of carbolic acid, corro- 

 sive sublimate, turpentine, acetic acid, etc., but although 

 much reduced in numbers the family is still in a 

 flourishing condition." The Tyroglyphidse are pro- 

 bably often credited with injuries for which they are 

 not really responsible; on the other hand Aleurobius 

 farinse is a considerable destroyer of grain and of 

 stacked roots, such as turnips, mangels, etc., in the 

 winter store, and probably does much more harm than 

 it is credited with. Rhizoglyphus echinopus is a true 

 root-eating creature, and is a great destroyer of bulbs 

 and tubers, especially the former. It swarms on 

 hyacinth and tulip bulbs, and has been supposed to 

 specially favour Eucharis bulbs, but probably this is 

 partly because that bulb is specially valued, and more 

 notice is taken when it is destroyed than would be the 

 case with a more abundant and cheaper bulb, and 

 partly because the Eucharis bulb when it is injured 

 seems to be specially liable to attacks of fungi on the 

 cut surface, which turns orange and attracts attention; 

 Rhizoglyphus prefers sound healthy bulbs to those in 

 a state of decay. Dried fruits are often much injured 

 by Carpoglyphus anonymus and other Tyroglyphidse ; 

 the species named will follow the fruit into compounds 

 which might be thought likely to be distasteful ; thus 

 it will thrive well upon confection of senna. Another 

 strange habitat of this species, where it is said to do 

 considerable damage, is inside the bottles which contain 

 some of the southern French sweet wines ; the Acari 

 float on the top of the wine upon minute fragments 

 which have become detached from the bottle cork. 



The Tyroglyphidse do not usually attack the foliage 

 or green parts of living plants. Some species of the 

 exceptional and singular genus Histiostoma do so to 

 some extent, but they, in my opinion, are rather 



