596 



FAMILY XXIV. DERMESTIDJE. 



beetle, the larva of which is known as the Buffalo moth. It is 

 a European species, which made its appearance in the eastern 

 United States about 1874, and has since been widely distributed, 

 becoming one of the worst of household pests. In the larval stage 

 it feeds upon carpets and woolen goods, furs and feathers. The 

 larva is a short fat grub about one-fifth of an inch in length, 

 clothed with stiff brown hairs, with short tufts of similar hairs 

 on the sides of each segment and a longer tuft at the extremity, 

 forming a tail-like projection. (Fig. 227, b.) It occurs all the 

 year round in well-heated houses, but more frequently in summer 

 and fall, in the cracks of floors near the edges of rooms and beneath 

 furniture. It feeds upon the woolen fibres of the carpet, often fol- 

 lowing the line of a floor crack and cutting long slits. When full 

 grown it contracts, sheds its skin and becomes a quiescent pupa. In 

 this stage it remains for several weeks, or even months, the length 

 of time depending upon the temperature and surroundings. The 

 mature beetles begin to appear in October and are found about the 

 house in winter, being most abundant in spring when they are mat- 

 ing, and may be often taken at the windows while trying to escape. 



Where it his once become installed nothing but the most thor- 

 ough and long- continued measures will eradicate this beetle. Dr. 

 L. O. Howard, in writing of the known remedies says : "In Europe 

 it is not especially noted as a household pest, and this is doubtless 

 owing to the fact that carpets are little used. In this country car- 

 pets once put down are seldom taken up for a year, and in the mean- 

 time the insect develops uninterruptedly. Where polished floors 

 and rugs are used, the rugs should be taken up and beaten, and in 

 the same way woolens and furs should never be allowed to remain 

 undisturbed for an entire year. It is a well-known fact that the 

 carpet habit is a bad one from other points of view, and there is 

 little doubt that if carpets were more generally discarded in our 

 more northern States, the Buffalo bug would cease to be the house- 

 hold pest that it is today." 



"Where convenience or conservatism demands an adherence to 

 the old custom, however, we have simply to insist upon extreme thor- 

 oughness and a slight variation in the customary methods. The 

 rooms should be attended to one or two at a time. The carpets 

 should be taken up, thoroughly beaten, and sprayed out of doors 

 with benzine, and allowed to air for several hours. The rooms them- 

 selves should be thoroughly swept and dusted, the floors washed 

 down with hot water, the cracks carefully cleaned out and kerosene 

 or benzine poured into the cracks and sprayed under the baseboards. 



