NORTH AMERICAN BOSTRICHIDAE 35 



p. 217 ; Riley, 1894, Insect Life 6 : 219 ; Chittenden, 1896, U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. 



Ent. Tech. Ser. 4, p. 28 ; Casey, 1898, N. Y. Ent. Soc. Jour. 6 : 76 ; Blatchley, 1910, 



Coleoptera of Indiana, pp. 890, 891. 

 Ptinus piceus Marsham, 1802, Ent. Britannica, v. 1, Coleoptera, p. 88. 

 Ptinus fissicornis Marsham, 1802, Ent. Britannica, v. 1, Coleoptera, p. 82. 

 Apate rufa Hope, 1845, Ent. Soc. London, Trans. 4: 17. 

 Apate pusilla Fairinaire, 1850, Rev. Zool. (ser. 2) 2: 50-51. 

 Rhizopertha rufa Waterhouse, 1888, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (ser. 6) 1: 349. 



Many citations to the literature are listed, but only a few of the more 

 important ones are given. 



Elongate, cylindrical, three times as long as wide, strongly shining, 

 uniformly dark reddish brown to brownish black, sometimes with legs, 

 antennae'and palpi slightly paler. 



Head transversely depressed behind clypeus; vertex smooth, gla- 

 brous, shining; clypeus and labrum coarsely, shallowly punctate, 

 sparsely clothed with short, semierect, yellowish hairs. Antennal 

 funicle with a few erect hairs; antennal club densely clothed with 

 short, recumbent, yellowish hairs. 



Pronotum strongly, uniformly convex, widest near middle, broadly 

 rounded at apical and posterior angles; anterior margin strongly 

 rounded ; base truncate ; sides broadly rounded, slightly margined near 

 posterior angles; surface sparsely clothed with short, recumbent, in- 

 conspicuous hairs, anterior half with transversely arcuate rows of 

 obtusely rounded teeth, those near anterior margin forming a strongly 

 elevated, crenulate ridge, posterior half with large flattened granules. 



Elytra at base subequal in width to pronotum near middle: sides 

 parallel, conjointly rounded at apices; surface sparsely clothed with 

 short, semierect, arcuate, yellowish hairs, and with rows of coarse, 

 rather deep punctures, which are as wide as the intervals, and more or 

 less confluent on apical declivity. 



Body beneath very sparsely clothed with short, recumbent, yellow- 

 ish hairs ; abdomen sparsely, coarsely, shallowly punctate, last stern- 

 ite broadly rounded at apex; prosternum and mesosternum finely, 

 densely granulose. 



Length 2-3 mm., width 0.6-1 mm. 



Type localities. — Of dominica, "America meridionali." Of pusilla, 

 "India orientali.*' Of piceus, East Indies. Of fissicornis, England. 

 Of rufa, Canton. China. The present locations of the types of do- 

 mi idea and pusilla are unknown to the writer, but the types of pict us, 

 fissicornis, and rufa are supposed to be in the British Museum. 



Distribution. — This cosmopolitan species has been distributed by 

 commerce to all parts of the world. In the United States it will be 

 found wherever vegetable and grain products are stored. The original 

 home of Rhyzopertha dominica is uncertain, but is probably India or 

 the Malayan Region, as this area is considered to be the focus of a 

 large number of species of Bostrichidae. 



Hosts. — Rhyzopertha dominica is a pest of all kinds of stored grains 

 and of a wide variety of foods, chiefly cereals. Its habit of feeding 

 on stored grains and similar starchy products has rendered it of great 

 economic importance. This species has been reported feeding on 

 grains, including wheat, barley, rice, maize, millet, oats, sorghum, and 

 ground products of these grains, and on chick peas, edible bulbs, white 

 lotus seeds, banana products, lentils, beans, army and ship biscuits. 

 stored drugs, dried potatoes, manioc, tapioca, arrow and turkey roots, 

 cork in insect boxes, and wood of casks. 



