396 



JOURXAL OF ECONOMIC EXTOMOLOGY 



rv'oi. 8 



Fig. 9. Portion of the skiii of Agrotis ypsilon highly magnified showing the strongly 



convex, isolated, primary and secondar}- granules. 

 Fig. 10. Portion of the skin of Mamestm renigera highh' magnified showing one of 



the conical dorsal tubercles, the base of its coarse bristle, and the isolated 



skin granules. 



Fig. 11. Portion of the skin of Feltia gladiaria highly magnified showing the skin 

 granules set pavement-hke without secondary granules. 



Fig. 12. Head shield of Prodenia ornithogalli showing the black dorsal area and the 

 white paraclypeal areas. 



THE DRIED-FRUIT BEETLE 



Carpophilus hemipterus (Linnaeus) 

 (Scarahocus hemipterus Linnaeus — Systema Naturae, p. 351, 1758) 

 Order — Cole opt e ra Family— .Yf t idu lidce 



By E. O. EssiG, University of California, Berkeley, California 



The dried-fruit beetle is very common throughout California and 

 because of its attacks upon fresh ripe and dried fruits, it has become 

 a source of some anxiety to fruit-growers and considerable worry to 

 fruit-packers and grocers. The insect has been known to science 

 for many years and is found in nearly all parts of the world, being a 

 cosmopolitan species thought to hai^e originated in Europe^ and car- 

 ried to other places in products of trade. Its fondness for dried fruits 

 has also been known for many years, but the small number of pub- 

 lished records concerning its work indicate that it is not generally 

 considered to be a pest of any great importance, excepting in a few 

 localities. 



Descriptiox 



Larvce (Figm-e 17). — The fii'st hatched young are exceedingly small and are white 

 or transparently 3'ellowish in color. The matm-e forms attain an average length 

 of about one-fomi:h inch and are white or yeJlo-^ish with the head and tip of the tail 

 rich amber-bro-^TL. The body is quite slender, sparseh' clothed with quite long 

 spine-like hairs, and with two large tubercles at the extreme posterior end of the 

 abdomen and two smaller tubercles just in front of the larger ones as sho\sTL in Figm-es 

 17 and 19. All stages of the larvae are quite active, move quickly and disappear in a 

 surprisingly short time when distm^bed. 



Pupce (Figm-e 18). — The pupse are short, oval or somewhat robust and about one- 

 eighth inch long. There are manj^ formidable looking spines on the bod}' as shown 

 in the drawing. The color is white or pale yellow until thej' are nearly matm-e 

 when the dark shades of the adult are gi'adually assumed. 



Adults (Figm-e 20) . — The beetles are small, averaging about one-eighth inch in length 

 and half as much in Tsidth. They are oval or robust and dull or shining black in 

 color with two conspicuous amber-brown spots at the posterior tips and two smaller 

 more obscure spots of the same color at the lateral marginal bases of the -^ing covers 



1 French, C, Jr. Dept. Agric. Victoria, IX, pp. 640-641, 1911. 



