CONTENTS.
| Page. | |
| Carpet beetles or "buffalo moths" | [1] |
| The common carpet beetle | [2] |
| The black carpet beetle | [4] |
| The varied carpet beetle | [6] |
| The furniture carpet beetle | [7] |
| Control measures | [9] |
| Naphthalene | [10] |
| Paradichlorobenzene | [10] |
| Camphor | [10] |
| Red-cedar chests | [11] |
| Cold storage | [11] |
| Fumigation | [11] |
| Miscellaneous control measures | [12] |
CARPET BEETLES OR "BUFFALO MOTHS."
T
HE so-called "buffalo moths" are not moths; they are beetles and very distinct from the true clothes moths. In this country there are six species,[1] at least, that attack museum materials and household fabrics, but of these only four[2] have proved serious household pests in America. All species are capable of subsisting upon dried animal remains, and thrive upon them perhaps as well as upon the fine fabrics of wool, hair, feathers, fur, and silk.
[1] Anthrenus scrophulariae L., A. museorum L., A. fasciatus Hbst., A. lepidus LeC, A. verbasci L., and Attagenus piceus Oliv.
[2] Anthrenus scrophulariae L., A. verbasci L., A. fasciatus Hbst., and Attagenus piceus Oliv.
Carpet beetles pass through life cycles, or generations, consisting of egg, larva or grub, pupa, and adult or beetle. These stages differ greatly in appearance. The beetles are broadly oval and about three-sixteenths to one-fourth of an inch long; black, but with this blackness often obscured by tiny red, orange, brown, yellow, or white scales which form color designs characteristic of the species. These scales, which are modified hairs, are easily rubbed off, revealing the black color of the body beneath. The larvæ, or grubs (as the larvæ of beetles are often called) are brownish or black and variously clothed with stiff hairs, as shown in Figures [1] and [8], or with a long tuft of hairs at the end of the body, as shown in [Figure 5]. Carpet beetles pass through not more than two generations annually, and more often only one, and there are records of certain individuals requiring much longer, even three years, to complete their growth. The following accounts are given of the four most important species.
THE COMMON CARPET BEETLE.[3]