117 



The eggs are white, bean-shaped, and about *>ne- twentieth of an 



inch long, and are deposited by the parent beetle in tin- meal or other 

 substance which is to serve as the food of the future larva, singly or 

 in groups, as high as fourteen or sixteen being laid in a single day. 

 They are adhesive when first extruded and become attached to any 

 surface upon which they are laid, and also take on a coating of par- 

 ticles of meal or other material. In the illustration, at d, an egg is 

 shown in profile with its covering of meal. 



The beetles begin to appear in the latitude of Washington in April 

 and May, occurring most abundantly in the latter month and in June, 

 when they run and fly actively about in search of their mates and of a 

 new place for the deposition of their eggs. In about two weeks from 

 the time the eggs are laid the infant meal-worm, which is at first clear 

 ^Yhite in color and with prominent antennae and legs, makes its appear- 

 ance. It soon turns yellow, and as it feeds voraciously its growth is 

 rapid. In three months it attains approximate maturity, and from then 

 till the following spring undergoes little change. After having shed 

 about a dozen skins, beginning from soon after its hatching, it changes 

 to pupa and in this state remains about a fortnight. It will, there- 

 fore, be noticed that this species is annual in development, a single 

 brood only appearing each year. The beetles are nocturnal, and, being 

 moderately strong flyers, are often attracted to lights. They have the 

 pungent odor characteristic of the family Tenebrionida?. 



In 1889 a physician sent us larval specimens of this meal-worm 

 reported to have been ejected from the stomach of a patient, and there 

 are many other records of similar occurrences of these larvae in the 

 human body. We also received during the year a specimen of this 

 insect, with an accompanying newspaper clipping giving an account of 

 its having been taken in a hotel from a large pin cushion filled with 

 " shorts." The noise made by the beetles scratching about in endeav- 

 oring to obtain their exit from the cushion had caused a guest to com- 

 plain that his room was haunted. , (See Insect Life, Yol. II, p. 148.) 



THE DARK MEAL-WORM. 



(Tenebrio obscurus Linn.) 



The darker of the two meal-worm larvae has been called by writers 

 the American meal-worm, an obvious misnomer, as this species, like the 

 preceding, in all probability came originally from temperate Europe 

 or Asia, and is, like other species most commonly found in the store 

 house, an introduced cosmopolite. 



The mature insect, illustrated at fig. 55, is very similar to the parent 

 of the yellow meal-worm, being of nearly the same dimensions, but 

 distinguishable by its color, which is dull, piceous black. There are 

 other points of difference, notably in the antennae, the third joint in the 

 present species being perceptibly longer than in molitor. The larva also 



