FORMS INJURIOUS TO HUMAN INDUSTRIES 



355 



the Weevils are among the pests of forestry, certain forms attack- 

 ing conifers, e.g. species of Hylobius and Piss odes. 



Some of the Beetles are indoor pests, their larvae feeding 

 on all sorts of substances. The members of one small family 

 (Dermestida) devour animal substances, and are very destructive 

 in museums. To one species at least (Anthrenus fasciatus] the 

 horse-hair coverings of furniture prove palatable. The larvae of 

 the Bacon- Beetle (Dermestes lardarius) indulge in a more luxurious 

 diet, as the name indicates. The larvae and adults of certain 

 species belonging to another family (Ptinidce) are not often seen, 

 though some of them are 

 frequently heard, and their 

 " works " are familiar. A 

 kind of literary flavour at- 

 taches itself to the Biscuit- 

 "Weevil" (Anobium pani- 

 temn), for its larva is most 

 likely the " original book- 

 worm " which finds its pabu- 

 lum in libraries, though paper 

 is not the only item in its bill 



* 



of fare, for Sharp remarks 



.. rr-*i x~ 7*7 * r 7 



{in The Cambridge Natural 

 TT ' j \ 1 



History) that ". . . it must 

 possess extraordinary powers 



of digestion, as we have known it to pass several consecutive 

 generations on a diet of opium; it has also been reported to 

 thrive on tablets of dried compressed meat; in India it is said 

 to disintegrate books; a more usual food of the insect is, how- 

 ever, hard biscuits; weevily biscuits are known to every sailor, 

 and the so-called * weevil ' is usually the larva of A. paniceum ". 

 The " Greater Death - Watches " belong to allied species (A. 

 striatum and A. tessellatuni), and are the cause of " worm-eaten " 

 wood and much superstition. 



Injurious Membrane -Winged Insects (Hymenoptera). To 

 farmers and fruit-growers the Saw -Flies are here most dele- 

 terious, while Wood -Borers are among the pests of forestry. 

 Their operations have been already sufficiently described (see 

 vol. i, p. 371; vol. ii, p. 203; and vol. iii, p. 386). Prominent 

 pests are the Corn Saw- Fly (Cephus pygmceus\ Turnip Saw- Fly 



Fig. 1253. Weevils, i, Gram of wheat, snowing the punc- 



tured hole ' and s, the xit of the perfect weevil. 2 . Pupa 



(natural size); 3, magnified. 4, Grain of Indian corn, with 

 weevil inside. 6, 7 ,G>m-Weevil(C/rfn^<m) f natural 

 s i ze an d magnified; 8, 9, Rice-Weevil (C. oryzee], natural size 



and magnified. 



