CONTROL OF HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 25 



are relatively immune from injury. Woolens and furs are most 

 likely to be damaged while in storage during warm weather. These, 

 before being laid away, should be thoroughly aired, brushed and 

 carefully examined for the presence of the destructive larvae. 

 Then they should be packed in cedar chests or tight boxes,, 

 preferably with some naphthalene or camphor, as these latter 

 materials are of some service as repellents. A very effective and 

 cheap method of storing articles for the summer is to put them 

 in tight pasteboard boxes and seal the covers firmly with strips 

 of gummed paper. 



Valuable furs and similar articles are frequently deposited 

 with storage companies. Experiments conducted under the direc- 

 tion of Dr Howard, Chief of the Bureau of Entomology, have 

 shown that all danger of injury by clothes moths and their asso- 

 ciates may be obviated by keeping the temperature at about 40 

 Fahrenheit. This is sufficiently low so that insects, even if pres- 

 ent, will remain in a dormant and therefore harmless condition. 



Occasionally a clothespress becomes badly infested by clothes- 

 moths. All garments should then be removed, aired, thoroughly 

 brushed and care taken to destroy any larvae which may not 

 have been dislodged by this treatment. The clothespress itself 

 should be thoroughly brushed and cleaned. These measures, 

 should afford relief. It is a very poor plan to have in the attic or 

 some unused part of the house miscellaneous woolens or other 

 materials in which the pests can breed unrestricted, as such places 

 are likely to serve as centers for the infestation of more valuable 

 articles. Methods of fumigating are briefly discussed on pages 

 27, 42. 



Spraying with benzine or naphtha two or three times during 

 warm weather is advisable for the purpose of preventing injury 

 to cloth-covered furniture, cloth-lined carriages and similar articles 

 in storage or unused for extended periods. Care should be exer- 

 cised to prevent the inflammable vapor of these oils gaining access 

 to fire of any kind. 



Carpet beetles 



Housekeepers of Albany, N. Y., at least, are seriously troubled 

 by carpet beetles. These destructive insects, it will be seen by 

 referring to page 23, are very different from the clothes moths 

 though operating somewhat in the same manner. 



Description. The Buffalo carpet beetle 1 is a stout, oval beetle 

 i of an inch long or less and easily recognized by its black and 



'Anthrenus scrophulariae Linn. 



