INSECTS INJURIOUS TO MEATS 



295 



THE DRUG-STORE BEETLE 



Sitodrepa panicea 



A box of yeast-foam cakes brought home from the gro- 

 cer's was found to be swarming with small white larvae 

 or grubs. The larvae had tunneled and mined through 

 the cakes in various 

 directions (Plate III). 

 Wherever two of the 

 cakes came in contact, 

 the tunnels showed up 

 nicely along their sur- 

 faces when they were 

 pulled apart. The bur- 

 rows of the larvae were 

 more or less filled with 

 small white pellets of 

 the undigested material 

 that the grubs had de- 

 posited in them. The 

 cakes were found infested 

 on January 2d, and on 

 March 3d an abundance 

 of small reddish-brown 

 beetles appeared. These 

 proved to be the common drug-store beetle. Our experi- 

 ence was not at all an uncommon one. All sorts of 

 substances bought at groceries and drug stores are apt 

 to be infested with this insect. 



The adult beetle is very small, only a trifle over one- 

 tenth of an inch in length, reddish-brown in color and 

 covered with a fine silky pubescence (Fig. 101). The 



FIG. 101. Drug-store beetle. 

 (X 24.) 



