70 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The cigarette beetle ^^ is another tiny, omnivorous species. The 

 adult is light brown, stout, slightly hairy and only one-eighth of an 

 inch long. The period of larval growth is about 2 months and the 

 life cycle may be completed in 47 days. The insect multiplies 

 rapidly and is best known on account of its injuries to tobacco, 

 cigarettes in packages being frequently perforated by this tiny pest. 

 It is known to infest a large variety of food stuffs, including con- 

 diments, such as cayenne pepper, ginger and rhubarb, drugs of 

 various kinds, like ergot and tumeric, and even dried herbarium 

 specimens. It has also been recorded as destructive to silk and 

 plush upholstery. 



Spider Beetles 



The white-marked spider beetle ^^ is a small, reddish brown 

 insect with four white marks on the wing covers. Its long antennae 



Fig. 36 Spider beetle, seen from 

 above, enlarged. (Authot's ustrat on) 



and legs and subglobular body are suggestive of a spider, hence the 

 common name. This species feeds upon a large variety of dried 

 vegetable and animal substances, such as insect collections, dried 

 plants and herbaria, red pepper, cotton seed, refuse wool, and is 



ssLasioderma serricorne Fabr. 

 ssptinus fur Linn. 



