18 



Dear Sir, — 



Mr. Bates is quite right in saying Doryphora will eat Solanum dulcamara and Datura 

 stramonium ; they have preferred these to tomatoes in ray garden. A friend found them 

 eating Hyoscyamiis. The present season seems exceedingly favourable to production of 

 Nematus and other grubs destructive of the currants and gooseberries. 



H. H. Croft, Toronto, Ont. 



SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE BACON BEETLE DERMESTES LARDARIUS. 



BY CAROLINE E. HEUSTIS, ST. JOHN, N. B. 



( From the Canadian Entomologist.) 



Having read in the Report of the Entomological Society of Ontario for 1877 an article 

 by Prof J. T. Bell, of Belleville, Ont., entitled " How to Destroy Cabinet Pests," I thought 

 it might not be unprofitable to record my own observations on Dermestes Lardarius. 



In the accompanying figure 1, both beetle and larva are 

 shown, magnified ; the hair lines placed by the side of each in- 

 dicate the natural size. 



Early in the summer of 1876 I captured four beetles, three 

 males and one female, and placed them in a glass jar with a 

 piece of the meat on which I found them feeding. I observed 

 the female deposit a number of eggs on the meat, but before- 

 any were hatched I left home, and was absent about five 

 weeks. On my return I found a large and flourishing colony 

 of larv8e, most of them full grown. 



My object in rearing these insects was not to study their 

 natural history, but to find out the best means to destroy them. 

 I put a piece of camphor gum in the glass as a first experi- 

 ment. The effect on them was very slight. They appeared a 

 little uneasy at first, but in a minute or so commenced crawling over the camphor quite 

 unconcerned. I had heard of a clothier who rolled tallow candles up in webs of woollen 

 cloth to preserve them from the attacks of the " moths," and I resolved to try its efi'ects on 

 Dermestes larvas. With this view I put a small piece of tallow in the glass, and the effect 

 was almost instantaneous. It was quite ludicrous to see the stampede which commenced. 

 Never did insect evince more terror or disgust than did these pests. They fled pell-mell 

 to the side of the jar, but as there was no way of escape, they were obliged to yield to 

 "circumstances over which they had no control." The closest observation failed to detect 

 one going near the tallow. They remained for several days huddled together by the side 

 of the jar in a confused mass. 



Satisfied witli my experiment, and being very busy at the time, I put the jar away, and 

 on looking at it about a fortnight afterward^ I found but one beetle and that one dead, of 

 all that large family. As all the larvae and three of the four beetles had disappeared and 

 " left no trace behind," I naturally concluded that they had been driven by starvation to 

 prey upon each other. There was no possibility of escape from the jar, and my conclu- 

 sion seems reasonable, even if I cannot prove it. 



I have ever since kept tallow in trunks or presses where there are woollen garments, 

 blankets or furs, and I have had nothing eaten up to the time of writing. In preparing 

 my boxes for mounted specimens, I put bits of tallow between the strips of cork and 

 cover with paper gummed to the sides of the box, and I have not had a single specimen 

 injured by Dermestes or any other cabinet pest. As tallow is cheap and can be obtained 

 in either town or country, I would heartily recommend it to both housekeepers and natu- 

 ralists. To the former it would be much better and less disagreeable than the snuff, tobac- 

 co, pepper and other preventatives which are put on furs with such unsatisfactory results. 

 Although such a remedy as Prof Bell recommends might do for the cabinet, it would 

 be neither pleasant nor safe to have about our clothing. 



