2 MISC. PUBLICATION 511, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



them. Robinson (ll) 1 summarizes additional accounts regarding the 

 damage and consequent losses due to the ravages of this insect, and 

 there are numerous similar records dealing with injuries caused by 

 other species of this family. In wartime the importance of these 

 insects is increased, since large military stores, such as those of 

 uniforms, blankets, leather articles, dried meats, cheeses, and other 

 foodstuffs, must be protected from their attacks. 



With the Dermestidae, as with many other economically important 

 families, the greatest damage occurs while the beetles are in the larval 

 stage, and it is, therefore, in this stage that they are most frequently 

 encountered. As the life histories and habits of the various species 

 differ significantly, correct identification is essential as a foundation 

 for control procedure. Until recently, no general study of dermestid 

 larvae had been made. Numerous descriptions and illustrations of 

 different larvae appear throughout the literature on this family, but 

 they are so fragmentary, or general and lacking in detail, as to be of 

 little use for the purpose of specific identification and, in many 

 instances, even for generic determination. Occasionally papers have 

 teen published in which the larvae of two or more species, usually 

 of different genera, were compared, and from these comparisons 

 attempts have been made to show the relationships of the groups 

 concerned. 



Although some success in determining group relationship has been 

 attained by such piecemeal work, a thorough investigation of addi- 

 tional material of many genera must be made before it can be 

 demonstrated satisfactorily whether the relationships revealed by the 

 study of the larvae agree with those disclosed by work on the adults. 

 Unfortunately, representative larvae of all genera have not yet been 

 collected, and for those groups in which collections have been made 

 specimens are not always obtainable. Owing to these facts, it is nec- 

 essary to limit the present work to those groups in which material is 

 available and which, with a few exceptions, are found in North 

 America. 



The present investigation is based on material in the collection of 

 the United States National Museum, including a considerable number 

 of specimens collected and reared by the writer in the course of the 

 work, supplemented by certain valuable material made available by 

 Clarence E. Mickel, of the University of Minnesota, and Marion E. 

 Smith, of Massachusetts State College. Although some genera of the 

 family are represented in the available material by only a few speci- 

 mens of a single species, examples of all genera listed by Leng (6), 

 with the exception of Dearthrus Lee, Orphilus Er., and Acolpus 

 Jayne, have been studied. In cases where little material was procur- 

 able, characters corresponding to those found to be significant and 

 constant in well -represented genera were selected and utilized. 



As catalogued by Leng, the family Dermestidae is represented in 

 North America by 13 genera (exclusive of Byturus). From a study 

 of the larvae and adults of Perimegatoma vespulae Milliron, the pres- 

 ent writer is inclined to agree with Milliron (8) who stated concerning 

 this species: "The distinct characters which it shows might justify 

 erecting a new genus for its reception * * *" Larval specimens 



Italic numbers in parentheses refer to Literature Cited, p. 13. 



I 



