THE DARKLING BEETLES. 



1255 



is ruined, for when the insects have time to propagate they booh 

 convert the flour into a gray, useless mass. A part of the annoy- 

 ance to purchaser, dealer and manufacturer is due to the fact that 



& vUr. 



Fig 561. Tribolium confusion; a, beetle; b, larva; c, pupa, d, side lobe of abdomen of pupa; e head of beetle, 

 homing eye and antenna; /, same of T. ferrwineum. (After Chittenden m Bull. IV, N . Ser., U. S. Dn . Ent.) 



the insects are highly offensive, a few specimens being sufficient to 

 impart a. disagreeable and persistent odor to the infested sub- 

 stance. ' ' 



2319 (10,017). Tribolium conflslm Duval, Gen. Col. Eur. Cat.. 18GS, 181. 



Slightly larger, darker and more depressed than ferrugineum, from 

 which it can be easily separated only by the characters given in key. 1 bo- 

 rax more coarselv and shallowly punctate, with the hind angles more promi- 

 nent and the basal impressions wholly absent; punctures of elytra less dis- 

 tinct. Length 4.5-5. (Fig. 561.) 



Marion, Orange and Vigo counties; frequent. January 17-No- 

 vember 25.' On January 17, 1896, I received from Dr. Robert Hess- 

 ler of Logansport, Ind., a pillbox of Cayenne pepper m which 

 were a dozen or more adult specimens of this beetle. The box was 

 placed in a drawer of my desk and not opened again until March 

 20 when the beetles were as lively as ever. On September U it was 

 opened for the third time. Two living adults and numerous half- 

 grown larva? were found therein, together with the uneaten bodies 

 of the dead adults. The pepper being perfectly dry. the question 

 arises- How did the insects secure sufficient moisture to live and 

 nourish when enclosed in so .small a box? Both this and the pre- 

 ceding are imported species, and both are occasionally museum 

 pests, preying upon dried insects, etc. The best remedy is the bi- 

 sulphide of carbon treatment, as described on preceding pages. 



