68 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



Gibbium ? — An insect allied to the preceding one has been discovered 

 in a bakehouse, by Dr. John W. Ellis, at Liverpool, the species is un- 

 determined. 



Anobium domesticum is one of the well-known death-watch beetles, 



an appellation given to several of this genus. The larvae eat their way into 

 chairs, tables, in fact into all kinds of wooden furniture, palings, branches of 

 oak and cedar, rolls of paper, books, flooring, &c, from which they escape 

 on arriving at the perfect state, sometimes in such numbers as to render the 

 furniture and other material in which they have lived completely useless. In one 

 instance these insects were feeding in the wooden portion of a cistern, which 

 was lined with sheet lead, on arriving at maturity they actually bored their 

 way through the lead. I have recently seen very carefully put away, in a 

 large case, which is glazed on four sides, a great number of willow twigs, 

 about half-an-inch in diameter, which once formed a large basket; they were 

 eaten in such a way that it would be impossible for them to hold together 

 much longer, the dust fell out of them whenever I moved them about. Mr. 

 Thomas Kelsall states that the roof of the Theatre Eoyal, Manchester, was 

 entirely destroyed by these insects, and had to be taken off and replaced, it 

 was so infested that he could easily break up the timber of which it was con- 

 structed. These insects are also the cause of alarm to ignorant or superstit- 

 ious persons, from the noise which they make, which resembles the ticking 

 of a watch, and is the reason of their having the appellation of death-watch. 

 Some people think it a sure sign of death, when the noise is heard. It is 

 thought to be a signal, which is replied to by the other sex ; they appear to 

 pair outside of the burrows during the night. The larvae seem to have the 

 instinct to know when they are near the surface of the wood in which they 

 are feeding, so that the perfect insect has little difficulty in making its escape. 

 It is probable that the wood when it becomes a mere shell, or perforated 

 mass, also becomes more sonorous, when the small but powerful jaws of the 

 perfect insect, when eating its way out, can be more easily heard. Olivier 

 thought the sound was produced by the larva, occasioned by the blows which 

 they made to ascertain the thickness of the wood which remained unbored, 

 before they reached the surface. A large cargo of cane which had been de- 

 ported from Liverpool to Manchester, was entirely destroyed by these insects. 

 I have a bamboo which is perforated by them. It is necessary that all empty 

 boxes, baskets, and wooden articles which are not actually in use, should be 

 kept in out-buildings, so as to prevent, as far as possible, this insect from 

 getting into the main buildings. It is possible that many of the buildings in 

 this city and the suburbs will have to be partially pulled down before twenty 

 years are over in consequence of the ravages of these insects. Although 



