[9] _Anthrenus fasciatus_ Herbst.
The carpet beetle or dermestid[10] here discussed has had no common
name, but may be called the furniture carpet beetle (Fig. 10). It,
too, is a European pest introduced into this country. It has been
reported from Algeria, Spain, Greece, southern Russia Mesopotamia, and
the East Indies It was first recognized in America during 1911, from
specimens sent the American Museum of Natural History, New York City,
from an upholsterer in Augusta, Ga. The specimen were taken from the
curled hair of furniture upholstered 12 to 15 years previous to 1911.
Investigation indicated that the hair used in this furniture came from
Russia. The pest was not again noted in America until April, 1915,
when it was found seriously damaging an upholstered chair in the White
House. Since then, particularly during the last several years, many
pieces of furniture and mattresses in different sections have been
reported badly damaged.
[10] So called because, like the other carpet beetles, it belongs to
the family Dermestidae.
[Illustration: Fig. 9.--The varied carpet beetle: Dorsal view of
well-grown larva. Greatly enlarged.]
In all instances the furniture was upholstered with curled hair and
moss, and in some cases the hair had been completely devoured by the
larvæ, in association with smaller numbers of the common carpet beetle,
the black carpet beetle, and the webbing clothes moth. (Figs. 11 and
12.)
[Illustration: Fig. 10.--The furniture carpet beetle: _a_, Well-grown
larva; _b_, larval skin; _c_, pupa within larval skin; _d_, two
beetles.]
This beetle is now well established in this country and is a most
serious furniture pest. The adults eat holes through heavy leather
and linen coverings, while the larvæ reduce the hair used in the
upholstering to a mass of cast larval skins and ground-up hair.
The hair then has the appearance of black gritty dirt which can be
scraped up by the handful, if not by the pailful. When the larvæ
become abundant in a piece of furniture they may drop to the floor
and there feed upon rugs and other fabrics made of wool, hair, fur,
or feathers. The larva; or grubs are seldom seen unless searched for,
but the adults, because of their habit of flight during March to June
(in Washington), leave the furniture and crawl about the furnishings
and windows, and while hardly one-fourth of an inch long, are made
conspicuous by the brown, white, and yellow scales that cover their
bodies.
[Illustration: Fig. 11.--Upholstered furniture sometimes harbors
thousands of clothes moths and carpet beetles without showing evidence
of their feeding until they have become very abundant. From this couch
thousands of adult carpet beetles were found emerging, and spreading
about the house. Only reupholstering or fumigation will rid such a
piece of furniture of pests.]
For a general impression of the appearance of the furniture carpet
beetle see Figure 10. The adult may live several weeks. The female
has been known to lay as many as 36 eggs in one day. Fortunately this
species does not seem to be very prolific, since no adult has been
known to lay more than 85 eggs. The eggs are small, white, easily
crushed by brushing, and are laid in the nap of clothing. In furniture
coverings of mohair, plush, and similar materials the eggs are tucked
down in the pile, as shown in Figure 13. The eggs hatch during warm
summer weather in from 12 to 15 days. The larvæ require the rest of the
year for growth and do not transform to the adult until the following
spring. The larvæ, however, do not all grow equally well, and some
specimens may require only one year for development, while others may
remain for considerable periods somewhat dormant, even in the presence
of much food, and will not transform to the adult until much later,
sometimes as long as one year after others, hatching on the same day,
have matured.
[Illustration: Fig. 12.--Leather covering at end of couch shown in
Figure 11, loosened to expose the work of the furniture carpet beetle.
Note that this pest, working with fewer numbers of clothes moths and
black carpet beetles, has eaten nearly all the curled hair stuffing,
leaving behind the moss used with the hair, countless larval skins, and
handfuls of a fine, gritty, dirtlike substance which is nothing more
nor less than the frass of the insect. Thousands of carpet beetles can
mature in such furniture without the knowledge of the casual observer.
It is only when the stuffing is eaten away and the pests leave the
furniture and crawl about the house that suspicion is centered upon
furniture as the possible source of an unending supply of clothes moths
and carpet beetles that appear here and there about the house.]