CARPET-BEETLE, a small beetle (An threnus scrophularice), often wrongly called °buffalo bug.* In thz grub or larval state, it is injurious to carpets and similar fabrics. It is an active, brown, hairy larva, the size of a grain of wheat, which works in a hidden manner from the under surface, sometimes making regular holes, but more frequently following the floor-cracks and cutting long slits in a carpet. This insect was brought from Europe about 1874, and is abundant in the New Eng land States and westward to Kansas. The adult insect is a minute, broad-oval beetle, about three-sixteenths of an inch long, with a red stripe down the middle of the back. When disturbed it folds up its limbs and feigns death. As a general thing the beetles begin to appear in the autumn, and continue to issue, in heated houses, throughout the winter and fol lowing spring. Soon after issuing they pair, and the females lay their eggs in convenient spots. The eggs hatch in a few days, and the larva develop rapidly. Their development is retarded by cold weLther or by lack of food, and they may remain alive for an indefinite period. When, under normal conditions, the larva reaches full growth, the yellowish pupa is formed within the last larval skin, from which the beetle emerges later. The beetles
are day-fliers, and when not engaged in egg laying are attracted to the light. They fly to the windows, and may often be found upon the sills or panes. The carpet-beetle is very _....] difficult to exterminate, and the best tive is the use of movable rugs on hard-wood floors. Suspected carpets should be taken up, beaten, sprayed out of doors with benzine, and then be well aired. Before relaying the carpet, tarred roofing-paper should be laid upon the floor.
Another similar pest is the black carpet beetle (Attagenus piceus), whose larva is read ily distinguished from the buffalo-bug by its cylindrical shape and lighter color. It is not so fond of working in cracks and cutting long slits in carpets, and in general is not so danger ous a species as the other. It sometimes pro duces in feather-beds a peculiar felting of the ticking. It has also been known to infest flour mills, and is to a certain extent a feeder upon cereal products. Two years are required for its development from egg to beetle. Consult howard and Marlett, 'Household Insects) (United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, 1896).