HOUSEHOLD AND CAMP INSECTS 



53 



a ladybeetle makes this impossible. The common name, Buffalo 

 carpet beetle, is suggestive of the shaggy, stout grub or larvae 

 nearly one-fourth of an inch long and frequently found in carpets, 

 especially along seams or cracks in .the floor. This pest has a 

 uniform, hairy shagginess and a short tail of long hairs, quite dif- 

 ferent from that of the black carpet beetle grub to be described 



Fig. 18 Buffalo carpet 

 beetle, seen from above, 

 enlarged. (Author's illustra- 

 tion) 



later. Feeding, and probably breeding, occurs throughout the 

 winter in well-warmed houses. The ability of these insects to live 

 under adverse conditions is strikingly illustrated in the case of a 

 related species known as the museum pest, 56 which has lived and 

 continued breeding for a period of 15 years in a tightly closed fruit 

 can containing two small ears of very dry popcorn. 



Fig. 19 Black carpet beetle, seen from above, enlarged; antenna of the male, stili 

 more enlarged. (Author's illustration) 



56 A n t h r e n u s verbasci Linn. 



