THE SKIN BEETLES. 597 



The extreme inflammability of lieiizine, and even its vapor, when 

 confined, should be remeiiibered and fire carefully guarded against. 

 Where the floors are poorly constructed and the cracks are wide it 

 vein be a good idea to fill the cracks with plaster of paris in a liquid 

 state;- this will afterwards set and lessen the number of harboring 

 places for the insect-i. Before relaying' the carpet tarred i-oofing 

 pap<'r slioidd be laid upon the floor, ,it Icjisl around the edges, but 

 preferably over the entire surface, and when the carpet is relaid it 

 will lie well to tack it down rather lightly, so that it can be occasion- 

 ally lifted at the edges and examined for the presence of the in- 

 sect."* 



llf.T (3444a I. Axthrexis thoraciciss Melsh., rror. I'hi!. Acad. Nat. Sci., 

 II, 1844, 117. 

 Resembles the preceding in foi-in l3Ut sum Her. The reddish suturnl 

 stripe is rarel.\' present ; the first and second crossbars of white are wide. 

 )nerging on the sides onl.v, or throughout tlieir entire extent, when tlie.v 

 form a wide sub-basal or median crossl>and. Under surface cuvcred with 

 white scales. Length 2.5-3 nnn. 



Posey County ; rare. Beaten from flowers of Cratcegus. This 

 species is placed as a synonym of scropJi idorifc liy Jayne and Tlen- 

 shaw, but is very distinct. It was described from the "middle and 

 southern States" 30 years before the Etiropean species was known 

 from the eastern United States. 



*liy8 (3445). Antheents veebasci 01i\'., Entom., IX. ITO.'i, 7. 



Oblong-oval, moderately convex. Thorax blacli. the disk 

 sparsely clothed with yellow scales, the sides more densely 

 with white ones ; elytra black, with a large basal ring and 

 two transverse zigzag bands of white scales, bordered by 

 yellow ones. Under surface clothed with fine, hjng grayish- 

 yellow scales. Length 2-3 mm. (Fig. 22S.) 



?\Iarion, Vigo and Knox counties, common; prob- '^ ^28 x7 

 ably throughout the State. February 12-June 16. (After Glover.) 

 Occurs especially on the flowers of the wheat-or corn-cockle, Lych- 

 nis githago Linn. It is also the most common and destructive of 

 museum pests, being especially injurious to skins of birds, mammals 

 and dried insects. If once infested, the only remedy is a teaspoon- 

 ful or two of bisulphide of carbon poured into the boxes or drawer.? 

 containing the specimens. The.v should then be closed as tightly as 

 po,ssible. Naphthaline flakes, kept in liberal quantities in or about 

 the cabinet, will disguise the odor of the dried insects and repel the 

 pests, but they serve only as a jjreventative and not as a remedy 



• "Principal HouBchold Insects of the U. S." in Bull No. 4, New Ser., U. S. Div. Entomology, 1896, 59-60. 



