2.36 ENTOMOLOGY FOR MEDICAL OFFICERS 



larva is active and somewhat resembles a wood-louse, (f) 

 Staphylinidce — rove-beetles, devil's coach-horses ; long slender 

 beetles with short elytra that leave most of the abdomen 

 uncovered ; they have the habit of turning up the " tail " 

 in a threatening manner ; like the preceding family they 

 are useful scavengers, (g) Cucujidcz — flat, usually elongate, 

 brown or red beetles, common in warm countries ; one 

 species, Silvanus surinamensis, infests stored grain — it is 

 a small beetle about one-eighth of an inch long, and can be 

 distinguished from other beetles of similar habit by having 

 the sides of the pronotum serrated, (h) Dermestidcs (Fig. 

 102) — notoriously destructive little beetles, the larvae being 

 specially harmful ; one or two species are universally in- 

 famous as museum pests, but other species do great damage 

 V >» 



Fio. 102. — Dermestcs, enlarged. Fig, 103, — Anobium paniceum, enlarged. 



to dried provisions, upholstery, and carpets. The adults 

 are small, plump, brownish or greyish beetles, with clubbed 

 antenna that can be tucked into a groove in the under side 

 of the thorax ; the larvae are covered with stiff, curved, 

 beautifully barbed bristles, of uniform size, and very regu- 

 larly arranged in transverse rows; the pupae are loosely 

 protected in the larval skin. A room infested with Derniestes 

 is best dealt with by the ordinary method of sulphur fumiga- 

 tion. Iron bowls half full of sulphur — each bowl being 

 set for safety in a basin of water — are ignited, and are left 

 to burn themselves out in the infested room, every opening 

 of which must be tightly closed and be kept closed until the 

 following day. If there is any difficulty in igniting the 

 sulphur a little spirit should be used. The performance 

 must be repeated a few weeks afterwards to catch any larvae 

 that may hatch from eggs that may, very likely, have escaped 

 the effects of the fumes. 



