Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1919-10-28

Among the small insect pests received
from housekeepers By the Maine Aeri.
cultural Experiment Station the spider
beetles are one of the mssnsst. Becanss
OF their form and carriage, thew are
easily mistaken for small spiders. With
this both the resemblance and ths yirtns
cease. Unlike the spider whose purpose
aoout the house Is the entirely worthy
Que Oh eating insects, this little beetle is
concerned with menu which we cannot
spare nearly so we'll.
As the pest is only little more than
an eighth of an inch long we are not
hkeiy TO notice IL until II occurs in large
plumbers. But we cannot afford to
lgnore an insect, no matter how small IL
,s, II 1t is found creeping about the new
bags OF hour or some other cereal sup
ply recently brought into the house.
For as rule insects do not "hsppsn."
There Is usually very good reason for
their presence in certain placs,-a rea-
son connected in some way with their
lie history and naturally, therefore,
with their food supply.
That wee spider-shaped beetle on your
hour bag, for instance, means one of
two things. IL has perhaps smslled out
the hour and sought II as q desirable
place to deposit an alarming number of
eggs where the slender white grubs,
when they hatch, can appropriate our
food supply for their own needs of de-
vouring the wholesome -four and eject.
ing the waste. Either that or the beetle
is specimen freshly emerged from that
same bag which means that 1t has COM
pleted the life processes of its larval
days and has come forth to seek new
quarters.
Whether It is finding the bag or leav-
ing 1t, the spider beetle should be at.
tended to.
In either case il is desirable to look
over the reat of the pantry or storeroom
to see whether We are hsrboring infested
stuff.
If recently purchased packages of
cereal are found to be inhabited by this
or other larder pests, it Is best to call
the matter 70 the attention of the grocer
that he may look to his own conditions
or complain in turn to the Wholesale |
people with whom he deals. Larder
pests call for vigilance all along the line,
but IL does not do to blame the grocer or |
our own pantries are entomologically
clean and that we are keeping the small |
or quantities and dry products In glass
or tin jars so that intercourse between
them is impossible. Trouble in any one
receptacle can then be easily dealt with |
by heating the contents in the oven and
feeding it to chickens or pigs for in
stance.
With larger supplies, We can follow |
the suggestions adapted from Household
Insects by Herrick as follows:
Where they occur In a sack or barrel |
of meal or -four, they will usually be
found near the top. In this case, the |
top of the meal or flour may often be |
removed aud fed out to animals |
and all of the beetles and Larvae gotten |
rid of in this way. IL the Larvae have |
found their way up and down the sides |
of the sack or barrel and have penetrat- |
cd pretty good portion OF the material
in this way, there is not much that can |
be done except to use it in feeding ami |
mails. It would be best, however, to |
kill the Larvae and beetles by fumigsting |
the cereal with carbon bisulfide, to make
sure that none of them escape TO infest
other household materials. This may |
be done by setting a teacupf1l OF the
liquid on top of the flour in q tin dish |
and covering the barrel tightly. Allow
it to stand two or three days ia order
that the gas may have time to penetrate
into the -four as far as possible. In the
meantime, DO not go rear the barrel
with light of any kind, for the gas of
carbon bisulfide is inflammsbl and ex-
plosive. aud it is not safe to use it near
.ire.-Chas ID. Woods, Director.