Furniture Beetles. 



219 



white cottony secretion and then cast off their antennae and 

 legs, and remain for the rest of their life devoid of such 

 appendages. The adult female is a small orange-yellow sac, 

 surrounded by a white mass ; these white masses often unite 

 and form large felted patches, beneath which the larvae burrow 

 and develop. 



These scale insects suck out the sap very greedily, and 

 often do much harm when present in large quantities. In 

 time they cause the bark to peel off the tree, after which 

 decay and death of the tree ma)' ensue. It has recently been 

 reported to the Board as damaging trees at Castle Eden, 

 Durham. Large numbers of trees are attacked by this insect 

 in Surrey, and it is also common in Cheshire, Huntingdonshire, 

 and probably occurs in greater or less abundance wherever the 

 beech grows in Europe. 



Trees attacked by the insect should immediately be sprayed 

 with strong paraffin emulsion twice, at an interval of two days' 

 In the winter they should be sprayed with the caustic alkali 

 wash. Scrubbing the trunks of the trees is too costly a 

 method if the attack is severe, and thorough spraying with 

 warm paraffin emulsion is quite effective. If the trees are cut 

 down the bark should be burnt at once. 



It would appear that the weeping beech, of which two kinds 

 are grafted on the common beech, is not affected by this 

 coccus. The stock may be attacked, but not the "weeping" 

 scion. 



The insect does not appear to be attacked by birds, and 

 very rarely by insect parasites. 



Furniture Beetles. 



The so-called " Furniture Beetles " are usually known as 

 " Death Watches " ; they are beetles belonging to the genera 

 Anobium and Xestobium. The group of beetles to which they 

 belong are mostly found in old wood ; several are found in 

 houses, the two commonest being Anobium domesticum (Fourc) 

 arid Xestobium tcsscllatum, F. Eleven species of Anobium are 

 found in Great Britain ; the two previously mentioned and 



