Reports to the Board of Agriculture . 
4i 
GROUP F. 
Animals which concern Man as being - injurious to his 
worked-up Products of Art and Industry, such as (A) his 
various Buildings and larger Constructions, Habitations, 
(B) Furniture and Books, Drapery and Clothing, (C) Food 
and Stores, i 
SUB-GROUP B. 
Furniture Beetles and Clothes Moths. 
I. Furniture Beetles. 
Several enquiries have been received from correspondents of the 
Board concerning Furniture Beetles and Clothes Moths. 
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, the Anobiina, 
are mostly found in old wood ; several are found in houses, the two 
commonest being the Anobium domesticum, Foure, and Xestobium 
tessellatum, F. Eleven species of Anobiina are found in Great 
Britain ; the two previously mentioned and A. paniceum, L., and 
Ernobius mollis, L., are the domestic forms. Furniture and wood- 
work are chiefly damaged by A. domesticum and X. tessellatum. The 
species A. paniceum attacks all kinds of stored goods, such as flour, 
bread, biscuits, medicinal stores, skins, etc., and has been introduced 
into most of our towns, hut appears not to be common in Scotland. 
Anobium domesticum is a most destructive furniture pest, the 
larvae eating galleries into the solid wood, and often so completely 
riddling it that it falls to pieces ; tables, chairs, and furniture may 
become so honey-combed by these pests that they suddenly collapse. 
The exits to these galleries are seen as small round holes in the 
wood-work. In soft woods they soon cause complete destruction. 
Xestobium tessellatum is also generally distributed, and occurs in 
old trees, such as oaks and willows, but especially in old wood in 
churches and houses. It is also rare in Scotland. 
Both these species make a curious ticking noise, which has given 
rise to their popular name of “ Death Watch.” This noise is made 
