FORMS INJURIOUS TO HUMAN INDUSTRIES 355 



the Weevils are among the pests of forestry, certain forms attack- 

 ing conifers, e.g. species of Hylobius and Pissodes. 



Some of the Beetles are indoor pests, their larvae feeding 

 on all sorts of substances. The members of one small family 

 i^DermeshdcB) devour animal substances, and are very destructive 

 m museums. To one species at least {Anthrenus fasciatus) the 

 horse-hair coverings of furniture prove palatable. The larva; of 

 the Bacon- Beetle {Dermestes lardarius) indulge in a more luxurious 

 diet, as the name indicates. The larvae and adults of certain 

 species belonging to another family {Ptinidcs) are not often seen, 

 though some of them are 

 frequently heard, and their 

 "works" are familiar. A 

 kind of literary flavour at- 

 taches itself to the Biscuit- 

 " Weevil " {^Anobmni pani- 

 ceuni), for its larva is most 

 likely the " original book- 

 worm " which finds its pabu- 

 lum in libraries, though paper 

 is not the only item in its bill 

 of fare, for Sharp remarks 

 (in The Cambridge Nahiral 

 History) that ". . . it must 

 possess extraordinary powers 



of digestion, as we have known it to pass several consecutive 

 generations on a diet of opium; it has also been reported to 

 thrive on tablets of dried compressed meat; in India it is said 

 to disintegrate books; a more usual food of the insect is, how- 

 ever, hard biscuits; weevily biscuits are known to every sailor, 

 and the so-called ' weevil ' is usually the larva of A. paniceiim ". 

 The "Greater Death - Watches " belong to allied species (A. 

 striatum and A. tessellatum), and are the cause of "worm-eaten" 

 wood and much superstition. 



Injuriojis Membrane -Winged Insects {Hymenoptera). — To 

 farmers and fruit-growers the Saw- Flies are here most dele- 

 terious, while Wood- Borers are among the pests of forestry. 

 Their operations have been already sufficiently described (see 

 vol. i, p. 371; vol. ii, p. 203; and vol. iii, p. 386). Prominent 

 pests are the Corn Saw- Fly {Cephus pygmcsus), Turnip Saw- Fly 



^ig- 1253- — Weevils, i, Grain of wheat, showing the punc- 

 tured hole; and 5, the exit of the perfect weevil. 2. Pupa 

 (natural size); 3, magnified. 4, Grain of Indian corn, with 

 weevil inside. 6, 7, Corn-Weevil [Calandra granaria], natural 

 size and magnified: 8, 9, Rice-Weevil (C. oryzce), natural size 

 and magnified. 



