LIBRARY

560
COLLEGE ENTOMOLOGY
ceive the femora; tibire sometimes with spurs; tarsi five-segmented; claws sim-
11e. LarVal caraboid, densely covered with long and short hairs which may be
arranged in a number of whorls or tufts. They have short antennre and six
ocelli on each side.
The larvre and adults feed extensively upon dead animal and plant materials
including skins, horn, hair, wool, tallow, cured meats, cheese, museum insect
specimens, and cereals and cereal products. They are pestiferous in manufacturing
establishments, warehouses, stores, and repositories for animal products
of any kind and are of great concern also to museums of natural history and to
the housewife. Because of them stuffed animals are treated with arsenic or
some similar poisons; insect specimens are housed in insect-proof cabinets and
regularly fumigated; furs are kept in cold storage; and the woolen clothes and
carpets must be carefully guarded against spoliation.
The adults often occur in large numbers out of doors, and many species visit
flowers, especially umbelliferous and lilaceous forms. Not an species fall in the
category of injurious insects.
The family is a relatively small one consisting of but 34 genera and approximately
550 species. A number of species were early widely and generously distributed
by whaling and hide and tallow ships as well as by general commerce.
The important genera are:
Dermestes Linn., 53 spp. (cosmopolitan). Three species, D. cadaverinus Fab.,
D. lardarius Linn., and D. vulpinus Fab., are cosmopolitan and quite destructive.
They average from 7-9 mm. in length and are variously colored black
and whitish. The last named species has been employed by museums to clean
the dried flesh from bones.
Attagenus Latr., 87 spp. (Holarctic, Ethiopian). Two species, A. pellio
Linn., 4.0-5.5 mm., and A. piceus Olivier, are widely distributed and of economic
importance. Megaioma Herbst, 10 spp. (Pal