Furnihire Beetles. 



17 



The life-history of linearis is better known in all its stages than 

 than of brunneus, but the differences are so slight that the history 

 of one will probably serve for both. It is on the whole very 

 similar to that of the common furniture beetle, but with differences 

 m regard to time of appearance, the shape of the eggs, and the 

 structure of the larvae. The beetles come out earlier, usually in 

 May, but sometimes not until the middle of June. Pairing 

 follows, and within a day or two after, the eggs are laid by the 

 females. In the case of Lyctus linearis the female with her very 

 long ovipositor is said to lay them in slits, cracks and crevices of 



Pig. 5. 

 a. Lyctus brunneus, Steph. b. Its larva, t. Lyctus linearis, Goeze. 



the wood just as the female of Anohium does ; but in a recent paper 

 it is stated of Lyctus planicoUis, an American species, that the 

 eggs are always laid in the pores of the wood, and that each 

 female deposits them in several pores, two or more eggs being 

 inserted near together deep in each pore. This is perhaps what 

 happens also in the case of Lyctus brunneus, for we have watched 

 females of this species with their ovipositors well extended, 

 groping about for a place to lay their eggs, but have been unable 

 afterwards to find the eggs, which most likely were hidden away 

 in the pores of the wood. 



