THE DARKLING BEETLES. 



1255 



is ruined, for when the insects liave time to propagate the}' soon 

 convert the flour into a gray, useless mass. A part of the annoy- 

 ance to purchaser, dealer and manufacturer is due to the fact that 



Fig. 561. Tribolium confusum; a, beetle; h, larva; c, pupa, d, side lobe of abdomen of pupa; e, liead of beetle, 

 howing eye and antenna; /, same of T. ferrujiiifum. (After Chittenden in Bull. IV, .\ Ser , U H. Div, Ent.) 



the insects are highly offensive, a few specimens heing sufficient tn 

 impart a disagreeable and ]H'rsistent odor to the infested sub- 

 stance. ' ' 



2319 (]0,017). Tribolium coxfusvji Uuval, Geii. Col. Eur. Cat., ISO.s, isl. 



Slightly larger, darker and more depressed than fvrnif/iiieuin. from 

 which it cau be easily separated only by the characters given in key. Tho- 

 rax more coarsely and shallowly pnnctate, with the hind angles more i>romi- 

 nent and the basal impressions wholly absent; punctures of elytra less dis- 

 tinct. Length 4.5-5. (Fig. 561.) 



Marion, Orange and Vigo counties; frequent. January 17-No- 

 vemher 25. On January 17, 1806, I received from Dr. Robert Hess- 

 ler, of Logansport, Ind., a pillbox of Cayenne pepper in which 

 were a dozen or more adult specimens of this beetle. The box was 

 placed in a drawer of my desk' and not opened again until ]\rarch 

 2(1, when the beetles were as lively as ever. On September 1-4 it was 

 opc^ned for the third time. Two living adults and numerous half- 

 grown larviP were found therein, together with the uneaten bodii--) 

 of the dead adults. The pep])er being perfectly dry, the question 

 arises: How did the insects sec are sufficient moisture to live and 

 flourish when enclosed in so smiill a box? Both this and the pre- 

 ceding are imported species, and both are lu-casionally museum 

 pests, preying upon dried insects, etc. The I'cst remedy is the bi- 

 sulphide of carlion treatment, as dcsci-ibed on iireceding pages. 



