ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



323 



books over thoroughly \vith a stroiiy: sohition of 

 corrosive sublimate. 



Sliould these insects become more numerous, 

 1 shall prefer a cloth-bound book because of less 

 liability of such books to bo attacked by the in- 

 sects. The bookbinder might easily remedy the 

 difficulty by adding a little corrosive sublimate 

 to the paste htj uses ; but to him there is an ob- 

 jection on the score of health. 



This is an imported insect, and therefore is all 

 the more to be feared according to (lie le:icliini;s 

 of Mr. Walsh, who eudeavored to prove Unit all 

 iniijorled insects arc worse thau the indigenous 

 ones. The causes of this may be various, but 

 I he grand reason is supposed to bo that the 

 nntural enemies in their native country do not 

 accompany them in their migrations. Some en- 

 tomologists, however, say that this species does 

 but little liarm. 



Another lioring beetle of the Ptinus famil> 

 (Silodrejia panicea, Thomas^.i4no6»Mm pani- 

 ceum, Fabr.) , feeds on capsicum and other spices, 

 wafers, farninaceous meals, etc., and are numer- 

 ous about drug stores, as I have seen in this 

 town. The same insect was found in a hand- 

 some red bead made of some kind of colored 

 |);is((>, much to the annoyance of the young lady 

 who was wearing it: for, strange as it may ap- 

 |ic!ir, uodiiiig much more annoys a young lady 

 Ihuu a harmless worm. I have had these beads 

 ill a close box, and there has been developed a 

 new brood every year since I placed them in this 

 conlinement. The eggs are white, ovate, and 

 pii)l)ably each female only produces a few. By 

 crushing a pregnant feinale I obtained six eggs. 



The larva of these bead biiilis is -nmewliat 

 hairy, yellowish-white, C-leai:' li. .hhI .(.ilcd u]) 

 by retracting the abdomen uuilri- ihc ihuax. II 

 is cousiderablv currui^iitcil, especially along the 

 sides. The lii'ail i- siiiootli, horny, and white, 

 ami the niauilililes and parts about the mouth 

 are lilack. It lives in Ihc bead, and feeds so 

 larcfully that one woulil uol suspect its presence 

 wcri! it not that the jierlcct insect eats a hole 

 tlu(Uigli the same to make its escape. Some- 

 limes, but rarely, two were found in a bead. 



When ground capsicum contains these insects 

 il will be Ibund cemented into somewhat irregu- 

 lar hollow balls, attached around the sides of the 

 vessel in which it is contained. It is strange 

 llial they will live and thrive e(iually as well in 

 such a pungent substance as they do in barley 

 meal, if, indeed, they be one and the same insect, 

 and I am not able to detect any marked diflerence 

 between the capsicum, barley meal, and bcad- 



The larva of the Brown Ptiuus, or Book-bee- 



tle, is similar in appearance to that of this Spice- 

 beetle (Sito(hvpa) , but close examination shows 

 it to be nuich more hairy. I have taken them 

 from the books and placed them in small corked 

 vials, and observed that they soon buried them- 

 selves in the cork, where they lived and fed for 

 as much as two or three months. The Brown 

 Ptinus matures in April and May, and at this 

 time I have so often taken them in a basin or 

 pail of water, during the past four years, that I 

 conclude that it would be agood plan in >c( pans 

 of water in the library for the purijo^c ot entrap- 

 ping the pcrlci-l iusci'ls. 



These I w o iii^cri -. ilinugh belonging to the same 

 family, aic (piilc (lillcrcnt in appearance. Com- 

 pared will; tlic ItiMik-l.ccile {J'/hiK.t), the Spice- 

 beetle (Si/(>iln:ji<i) i- of a UliIiIi r lirown, and is 

 more neaily cyliudiicai. 'i'lic aiilciiiiie aremuch 

 smaller and mostly retracted after death. The 

 Book-beetle is of a darker brown, usually con- 

 siderably hump-backed, with the thorax consid- 

 erably narrowed just in front of the wing-covers. 

 It is more densely covered with hairs, and with 

 a lens the hairs are seen much more conspicu- 

 ously — stifl' and bristle-like. I thus speak of 

 tlioir differences in contrast because some have 

 considered them the same. 



These insects produce a peculiar sound, which 

 is supposed to be caused by striking their jaws 

 against some foreign object, and which is, per- 

 haps, made to attract their partners. This sound 

 somewhat resembles the ticking of a watcli, and 

 ignorant and superstitious people believe it to 

 be ominous of death — " the death watch." 



When apples are stored near the library, the 

 Codling Moth, upon leaving the a]i]ile and seek- 

 ing a place to transform, may Incali' il^cl^ in a. 

 book, as I have upon several occasions observed. 

 When it enters the book between the back and 

 leaves, it gnaws and mutilates them very much 

 to make a desirable place in which to spin its 

 cocoon. On one occasion I observed that the 

 larva, after cutting through three or four leaves 

 and si)inning a good deal of silk, left for more 

 (Icsinilile (|uarters. In this way many other 

 caicrpiilais may injure books, when by accident 

 they gain access to them. 



We read of various book enemies that have 

 attracted attention from time to time. A cater- 

 pillar (^Anglossapinguinalis), said sometimes to 

 subsist on butter and lard, does no little damage 

 to books by fixing itself and spinning a web on 

 the binding. Still another, according to Kirby 

 and Spence, does much damage by taking its 

 station between the leaves. 



A mite (C'eletus eriiditus) cats the paste of 

 the bintling, and thus is a troublesome enemy. 



