4 BULLETIN 1107, V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



function and blown out. The chemically treated fiber tube is not 

 attacked. Both adults and larvae of the dermestid " hide beetle " 

 {Dermestes vulpinus Fab., Fig. 1), have been found in these tubular 

 fuses. The larvae (Fig. 2) of this scavenger beetle j)robably enter the 

 fuse to pupate ; wood is frequently damaged by larvse boring through 

 it to form pupal cells; indeed, even asbestos is so penetrated (4). 



In May, 1910, the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone & Telegraph 

 Co. reported damage, caused by insects determined as Dermestes vul- 

 pinus, to fuses in a box at Baltimore, Md. A similar case of this 

 beetle eating fuses mounted in boxes on telephone poles was reported 

 in June, 1910, at St. Louis, Mo., by the American Telej^hone & Tele- 

 graph Co. 



The Chicago Telephone Co. reported several years ago damage to 

 a telephone fuse in the Chicago stockyards. The fuse had been cut. 

 An adult and two larvse of Dermestes vulpinus were found in the 

 fuse. The fuse wire had been bored through bit by bit. The adult was 

 an unusually small specimen. The location of this damage in the 

 stockyards is significant, since this insect nonnally damages hides, etc. 



Dr. Wm, Lewis Culj)epper, of Syracuse, N. Y., reported in March, 

 1916, that an insect, determined as Dermestes vul2?inus, was found" 

 eating and destroying the battery in a telephone ; i. e., " dry cells " 

 with the shell made of zinc. 



DAMAGE TO LEAD SHEATHING OF AERIAL CABLES BY SCOBICIA DECLIVIS LEG. 



Chaeactek of Damage. 



Damage to the lead sheathing of aerial telephone cables consists of 

 perfectly round holes about 2.5 millimeters (0.1 inch) in diameter 

 which extend through the lead sheathing from the outer surface to 

 the paper insulation of the wires within. (PI. VI, Fig. 3 ; Text Fig. 

 8.) Cables of various diameters are attacked. In practically every 

 case the hole is made through the lower side of the sheath close to 

 where the suspending ring or metal or marline hanger supports the 

 cable. In a few cases the damage is done where the cable has been 

 scarred or roughened or wdiere an upright cable has been fastened to 

 the poles by clamps. In a number of cases where attempts had been 

 made on the sheathing the work was abandoned before the sheathing 

 was penetrated. In cases where the sheathing is penetrated, moisture 

 is very readily drawn in to the wires and the entire supply of electric 

 current may be short-circuited. If the hole happens to be in the 

 prop'er location a great deal of moisture enters and the cable may be 

 ruined for 15 to 20 feet. Particularly in case of slack cable or those 

 on grades the moisture sometimes penetrates and soaks the insulation 

 for long distances. This necessitates cutting out the cable, splicing 



