; ae No. a New SERIES. | S258 ee |
~~ U.S, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, |
DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. Fi] Some #
|
AHS. | :
1896 THE PRINCIPAL
PeUSKHOLD INSECTS
OF THE
UNITHD STATES:
a BY
jay
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mh. OO; HOWARD AND ©. L. MARLATT. Bae : )
WITH A CHAPTER. ON
_ Insets AFFECTING DRY | es LE FOODS.
BY
EF. H. CHITTEN VES,
WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE,
hake Page.
/%2IDG
BULLETIN No. 4.—NEW SERIES.
ea DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY, Ho?
THE PRINCIPAL
BOUSHHOLD INSECTS
OF THE
GONE ED STEAS TEs.
BY
Li O. HOWARD AND C. L. MARLATT.
WITH A CHAPTER ON
INSECTS AFFECTING DRY VEGETABLE FOODS.
BY
Fy H. CHITTENDEN.
WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1896.
Nm UF
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY,
Washington, D. C., July 7, 1896.
Sir: I have the honor to submit for publication the accompanying
account of the principal household insects of the United States.
. Respectfully,
L. O. HOWARD,
Entomologist.
Hon. J. STERLING MORTON,
Secretary of Agriculture.
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CONTENTS.
AMMEEIRAICICING Cee ee naa eee ee ea a See oom Saw Fae bees sae ae
CHAPTER I.—MOSQUITOES AND FLEAS. (By L. O. Howard).-.........-.---.--
APLAR Si CULLUCHELO SPs eae oo os ai = rato eae ns Oa sities eleio ie ieee eos
@he cap and doe flea (Pulex serraticeps Gerv.)... .-- <6. <5. 22 snen de eses cise
CHAPTER IJ.—THE BEDBUG AND CONE-NOSE. (By C.L. Marlatt).........---
meebo bus (Cimes lectularius Linn.)~ 2/5525 so 2 See tees Soot ssc oS ese ole
’ The blood-sucking cone-nose (Conorhinus sanguisuga Lec.) .---.----------
CHAPTER III.—HOUSE FLIES, CENTIPEDES, AND OTHER INSECTS THAT ARE
ANNOYING RATHER THAN DIRECTLY INJURIOUS. (By L. O. Howard and
parmniremel ePctrtel cai i0)) sae eee = ce ae 2 oe Wee Gero fen eet ce Boers Se Sallie
Pmmcedives (iiscea domestica, enal.). .-(leO.H.) 2. 225.552 ee ace Set eet
The house centipede (Scutigera forceps Raf.). (C.L.M.)...-...--.-..-----
mae clover mite (bryobia pratensis Garm.). (C.L.M.).-..225-.252.5-2----
The house cricket (Grylius domesticus Linn). (C.L.M.)-....----.-..---.--
mie paper wasp (Vespa germanica Fab.). (C.L. M:).---. 2.222 2.25 22 eee
CHAPTER IV.—SPECIES INJURIOUS TO WOOLEN GOODS, CLOTHING, CARPETS,
MPHOLSTERY, ETO. (By L. O. Howard and C.L. Marlatt) .-...--.. 2.2.2.
The carpet beetle or “buffalo moth” (Anthrenus scrophularie Linn.).
ie Ee LED epee gee Ps a a ER TRS aR 2 Sra a a US
The black carpet beetle (Atiagenus piceus Ol.). (L.O.H.) ----.----------
ihe clothes moths (Tinea pellionella,; et al.) (C.L.M.) .--.--.5. 2----5--%
CHAPTER V.—SPECIES INJURIOUS TO WALL PAPER, BOOKS, TIMBER, ETC. (By
eh Ley SLUDGE 0) | Se SE het a a gS a ee
Mieammntieramy (LeEnnes flavipes ANOlL, eso a25 52 1542 soe a sows ee ee eee
Menten ish (Lepisma saccharina Linn.) 222-3: S422 hl Se es = Fee eee elke
fie eel louse (Airopos divinatoria Fab:)22-. 22.22.22 22 see ce ile ese
The American spring-tail (Lepidocyrtus americanus Marl.)-.-.-.------------
CHAPTER VI.—COCKROACHES AND HOUSE ANTS. (By C. L. Marlatt) --..-.--
Cockroaches (Periplaneta americana, et al.)....--.------ shrine Piney raced Stems
House ants (Monomorium plaraonis, et-al.).--..+.--- s4e6--2+-22< 222-50 5-5-
CHAPTER VII.—SOME INSECTS AFFECTING CHEESE, HAMS, FRUIT, AND VINEGAR.
Miswallm Oe ONVAL Ces meh ae ie elec oe eats 5 One toe omee AT ai) MC ue Re
The cheese, ham, and flour mites ( Tyroglyphus longior and Tyroglyphus siro) -
The cheese skipper or ham skipper (Piophila casei Linn) .-...----.-------
The red-legged ham beetle (Necrobia rufipes Fab.).-....---.--------------
tredarderbeetle,(Vermestes lardarius Winn.) 2.2222 s222-. 252% sa- 255 ecene
hermit hes or vinegar flies Drosophila spp:)-4-.222-2-----s-+<2-.s4---
Cuaprer VIII.—INSECTS AFFECTING CEREALS AND OTHER DRY VEGETABLE
HOODS seo yrs de @mitteMmden): 2-2 250.4 oes See eos. bce sees os
Pure si Oui CCUles rm ar mya een. sae ORY Pokies a oe
Pie mealeworms): 2:2 2..82.. 2.2: pea cdi nee meh pea UE Cae Sei IIs Tech Sin
TUNG TUAV SEE SANIT OS csc ie MN ae EE iB eR ee eee
TEM, COPE WO TUE] SVS LETS) A Seem le a A Phe Ra
hedrmice-store pectle. and its) allies 22255. 92 {ees seco. fee te
Species of occasional occurrence in vegetable stores......-....----------
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
eet 0 nlex puncens AdUIt Soo - sais see. Some ales weet wae mee Ce merenne 10
=e alex punsens: eres and youn? larvyx.. 025.52... 5-2 ss. cose 2-5 11
a -Gilex punrens: mead: of larva; sy. sco seo] 6220-5 ss cen ac lace eccen 13
Plex puncens larva and) pllpa 22-52 c..2 soa S22 on St hele 15
fe Palex serraniceps> eco, adult retG. os. so2 s-co-e ea aos eens 25
ne Ox SEITALICONS: IAEVara cscs on aes ose we ee a etc succes Soe cee e 27
OMe x 1OCUUL ALIS. GM Gis. | nis orem cotta sled ters wisps Syne wrnin o inte sie 32
Sciex lectularius: eco and young larva-2 5.52). 222.322. -5 22 2h 33
oF wnmex tectularius: larval stages 2.2. 258-2 jee So eee 35
10.—Conorhinus sanguisuga: pupa and adults ................---.---- 39
11.—Conorhinus sanguisuga: larva and egg.-......-...--..-----.------ 40
12.—Conorhinus sanguisuga: head, showing mouth-parts -...--..----- Al
13.—Musca domestica: adult, puparium, etc ......-..----..----------- 43
14.—Musca domestica: larva ......---- Bree ee Ne niatet ce Sins ioe ot elem 45
ee BE Se a GOmMes tea Uae ooo cso S kane onc Sore @ See ne-n aoe ei inie eisai 46
i Semler tOLCeps = AGULbe = 24. en Sa cene se om ae Mood eos aero ss A8
ae Seni Sera LONce ps: IAEVE a2 2.11 ee ck Seton aac oe eh eee ee 49
18.—Bryobia pratensis: females and details.................---------- 51
SEOs CACMSIS >: lAEVibs oan onc Sosy a sk. Sascha ss cee eases cise selec 52
GEMS AOMeEStICUSs, AUG 2225-2 ae yee eee Silos le chine lence Soe 53
ae Vals ASSIMMUIIS = *ACMIb 2. set ono soo ceee Soc sass cee eee once cee 54
oe ES ASS UMMlIS)s WAN TSi2- 2652 ao eases eo oS. eee se ee eee ers 5d
23.—Anthrenus serophulariz: all stages ----..--------.. +--+. -------- 58
Poe Abbacenus piceus:. all-stagessy..422,--2- ssc satecds cco kel Sele Seed 61
“eines pelionella: adult and larva: .22..c.ste0sci 305... 2st cee 63
26.—Tineola biselliella: adult, larva, and cocoon........--..---.------ 66
i erichophaga tapetzella: adult moth’ .2...--2 9.2.2.2... --22- 5-25 67
Zo lermes wavipes: male and female... 5.222 222. 222. 225. 22222. 52252: 70
29.—Termes flavipes: head of winged female .........--..----.-..---- 72
30.—Termes flavipes: newly hatched larva and egg ...---.------------ 73
ple hermes: tlavipes- difteremt forms: 4) 50555 2224. 2. oo. See se ee oe 74 -
oo kepisma saccharina: adulh 2.22 << 22 2c eee ae sabeeess se Js koe eclecee 76
do epismar domestica #/adulb 225,05... 28s 0s once tee oe ieee eee CH
Jo AULOPOs Cuvamatoria: adult... 522 [ake sees Sete poco oe ase See 79
35.—Lepidocyrtus americanus: adult, dorsal view ......-----.-------- 82
36.—Lepidocyrtus americanus: adult, ventral view .....-.....-.---.---- 82
37.—Lepidocyrtus americanus: adult, lateral view..............------ 83
Jo. reriplaneba americana: adult.. =... -ssss sosm esse c+ cose cons Coe o Sen 84
39.—Periplaneta americana: egg capsule ...............---.---------- 89
40.—Periplaneta australasiz: adult and pupa................-..--.---- 91
41.—Periplaneta orientalis: different forms -....-.............--.------ 92
42.—-Phyllodromia germanica: various stages ......-...----.---------- 92
43.—Monomorium pharaonis: female and worker...-...----.---------- 96
44.—Monomorium minutum: male, female, and worker..........-..--- 97
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
Fig. 45.—Tetramorium cespitum: different forms -......-.---..----....--. 98
46.—Tyroglyphus longior: male and female. ---- seeactet se ee 100
47.—Tyroglyphus siro: female 22.2 vee. she cae oo cee eee 101
48.—Piophila casei: different forms. 2222-22. 22-0 95--o5-5 22200 103
49.—-Necrobia rufipes: larva and adwlt_.22---2.22.5.-...222-)- eee 105
50.—Dermestes lardarius: larva, pupa, and adult .----..-....--.------ 108
51.—Drosophila ampelophila: different stages ....-.-...-------..----- 110
52.—Tribolium confusum and ferrugineum: different stages..-....---- 113
53.—Echocerus cornutus: adult male. 25-22 2221 5.22 --- 26. 115
54.—Tenebrio molitor: different stages ..-...../..2.<:<- ----22 -seeeeee 116
55.—Tenebrio obscurus: adult male. 225-222. -22--22--o2 + ee ee 118
56.—Plodia interpunctella: different stages.............--..---------- £19
57.—Pyralis farmalis: adult moth, ete... 22... 2.22 -.2. --2-5. 2225 119
58.—Pyralis farinaliscveces, larva, €bC oe ae eee Pes 120
59.—Silvanus surinamensis: larva, pupa, and adult ..............----- 121
60.—Tenebroides mauritanicus: larva, pupa, and adult -....-.-....--- 123
61.—Sitodrepa panicea: larva, pupa, and adult ...........-.-.--.--=_- 124
62.—Sitodrepa paniceai: head of larva: --22522-s5---2 25522 -eee 125
63.—Lasioderma serricorne: larva, pupa, and adult -.....-.-.-..------ 126
64.—Lasioderma, serricorme: head of larva......-.-..--.- -s.sse ee 126
INTRODUCTION.
On an average, from 500 to 600 letters of inquiry are received at this
office each month. A very considerable number of these inquiries
relate to insects which are found in houses and which either annoy the
occupants by their direct attacks or are injurious to household goods
and provisions. The available literature on this class of insects is not
extensive. Prof. C. H. Fernald, of the Massachusetts Agricultural
Experiment Station, published a short bulletin on the general subject
some three years ago, but only a few of the most prominent insects of
this class were treated. Other American articles are scattered in
various publications, in the reports of the State entomologists and
bulletins of the entomologists of the State agricultural experiment
stations, and in the entomological and other scientific journals. A
small volume was published in England in 1893, which bears the title
of Our Household Insects, by Mr. Edward A. Butler, a competent
entomologist, who has brought together a mass of interesting facts,
This little volume, however, treats of English insects only. There is
abundant room, then, for the present publication. Much that is pre-
sented herewith is based upon original observations in the office, and all
accessible publications upon the species treated have been consulted.
As will be observed from the title-page, the preparation of the bulletin
has been the joint work of the writer and of Messrs. Marlatt and Chit-
tenden. Mr. Chittenden’s work has been confined to a concluding
chapter on the subject of the species that affect dry vegetable foods, a
labor for which he is particularly well fitted by reason of his long
study of these species. There has been no systematic division in the
work of the main portion of the bulletin between the writer and Mr.
Marlatt. Each of us has chosen the topics in which he felt especially
interested. It results that longer or shorter articles by one or the
other are arranged according to the proper position of the topic in the
scheme as a whole and are not brought together under the respective
authors. The authorship of the individual articles, however, may be
readily accredited by the fact that not only is it displayed in the table
of contents, but by the further fact that the contributions are initialed
in every case.
The very curious but not unexpected condition has been shown in
the preparation of this bulletin that of some of our commonest house:
hold insects the life history is not known with any degree of exactness.
7
§ INTRODUCTION.
Of such common species as the household centipede (Scutigera forceps)
and the “silver fish” or “ slicker” (Lepisma spp.) careful studies yet
remain to be made, and it is hoped that one of the incidental benefits
which will result from the publication of this bulletin will be this indi-
cation of topics of desired investigation to students. The illustrations
have all been made by Miss Sullivan, with the exception of those of
the cheese skipper and ham beetles and the house centipede, which
have been prepared by Mr. Otto Heidemann. All drawings have been
made under the supervision of the author of the section in which they
appear.
L: Ov
fd eRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD-INSECTS
OF THE
WNTTED ATES:
CHAPTER I.
MOSQUITOES AND FLEAS.
By L. O. HOWARD.
MOSQUITOES.
(Culicide spp.)
Although mosquitoes are out-of-door insects, they may be considered
appropriately under the head of household pests, for the reason that
they enter houses, to the torment of the inhabitants, all through the
Summer months, and many of them pass the winter in cellars. In fact,
it is probably safe to say that no distinctive household pest causes as
much annoyance as the mosquito.
We are accustomed to think and speak of the mosquito as if there
were but one species; yet, to our knowledge, there are no less than
eight species, for example, which are more or less common in the Dis-
trict of Columbia, and the writer has noticed at New Orleans, La.,
certainly four different species at the same season of the year, while at
Christmas time a fifth species, smaller than the others, causes consid-
erable trouble in the houses of that city. In Trinidad Mr. Urich states
that he has observed at least ten different species from the island of
St. Vincent. In his Catalogue of the Diptera of North America Baron
Osten Sacken records twenty-one from North America, and it is per-
haps safe to say that not half of the species are described. In the
collection of the United States National Museum there are twenty
distinct species, all of which have been authentically determined by
Mr. Coquillett.
The common species at Washington in the months of May and June
is Culex pungens Wied. I say the common species, but do not wish to
be understood as saying that mosquitoes are common in Washington at
that time of the year. Asa matter of fact, the city is singularly free
from this little pest, and this is largely due to the reclamation of the
marshes of the Potomac River, which in war times and for a number
of years afterwards caused the inhabitants of this city to suffer severely
from this insect. As late as 1875, it is said, it was almost impossible
to spend any of the night hours near the marshes without smudges.
Later in the season other species become abundant.
9
10 PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS.
The writer, in the course of certain observations, has carried C. pun-
gens through approximately two generations in the early part of the
season. It is strange that recent and definite observations upon acecu-
Fic. 1.—Culex pungens: a, female, from side; 0, male, from above; c, front tarsus of same; d, middle
tarsus; e, hind tarsus; f, genitalia of same; g, scales from hind border of wing; h, scales from disk
of wing—enlarged (original).
rately determined species of many of our commonest insects have not
been published. This is mainly due to the fact that most entomologists
havea way of saving time by following the observations of older writers.
MOSQUITOES AND FLEAS. il.
This is all well enough where the species and the conditions are identi-
cal, but when, as is the case with such an insect as that under observa-
tion, the principal observations were made upon a different, though
congeneric, species, and in another part of the globe, where climatic
and other conditions differ, the custom is unfortunate. There is not, in
any of our published works, a thoroughly satisfactory figure of a well-
determined species of mosquito, or of its earlier stages. The statements
quoted in the text-books and manuals date back, in general, to the time
of Réaumur, one hundred and fifty years ago. These observations were
made in the month of May, upon a species (Culex pipiens) which does
not occur in North America, and in the one locality of Paris, France.
The notes made upon C. pungens at Washington possess, therefore, some
scientific importance.
Fic. 2.—Culex pungens: Egg-mass above in center; young larva, greatly enlarged, at right; young
larve, not so much enlarged, below; enlarged eggs above at left (original).
The operation of egg-laying was not observed, but it probably takes
place in the very early morning hours. The eggs are laid in the usual
boat-shaped mass, just as those of C. pipiens, as described by Réaumur.
We say boat-shaped mass, because that is the ordinary expression. As
a matter of fact, however, the egg masses are of all sorts of shapes.
The most common one is the pointed ellipse, convex below and concave
above, all the eggs perpendicular, in six to thirteen longitudinal rows,
with from 3 or 4to 40eggsinarow. The number of eggs in each batch
varies from 200 to 400. Asseen from above, the egg-mass is gray brown;
from below, silvery white, the latter appearance being due to the air
film. It seems impossible to wet these egg masses. They may be
pushed under water, but bob up, apparently as dry as ever. The egg
mass Separates rather regularly and the eggs are not stuck together
312 PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS.
very firmly. After they have hatched the mass will disintegrate in a
few days, even in perfectly still water.
The individual eggs are 0.7 mm. in length and 0.16 mm. in diameter
at the base. They are slender, broader and blunt at bottom, slenderer
and somewhat pointed at tip. The tip is always dark grayish brown in
color, while the rest of the egg is dirty white. Repeated observations
show that the eggs hatch, under advantageous conditions, certainly as
soon as sixteen hours. Water buckets containing no egg masses, placed
out at night, were found to contain egg masses at 8 o’clock in the morning,
which, as above stated, were probably laid in the early morning, before
daylight. These eggs, the third week in May, began to hatch quite
regularly at 2 o’clock in the afternoon of the same day on warm days.
In cooler weather they sometimes remained unhatched until the second
day. If we apply the evidence of European observers to this species,
the period of the egg state may be under twelve hours; but there is a
possibility that they are laid earlier in the night, which accounts for the
fact that sixteen hours is the shortest period which we can definitely
mention.
The larve issue from the underside of the egg masses, and are ex-
tremely active at birth. When first observed it is easy to fall into an
error regarding the length of time which they can remain under water,
or rather without coming to the surface to breathe, since, in striving to
come to the surface for air, many of them will strike the underside of
the egg mass and remain there for many minutes. It is altogether
likely, however, that they get air at this point through the eggs or
through the air film by which the egg mass is surrounded, and that
they are as readily drowned by continuous immersion as are the older
ones, as will be shown later.
One of the first peculiarities which strikes one on observing these
newly hatched larvee under the lens is that the tufts of filaments which
are conspicuous at the mouth are in absolutely constant vibration.
This peculiarity, and the wriggling of the larve through the water, and
their great activity, render them interesting objects of study. In gen-
eral, the larvee, passing through apparently three different stages, reach
maturity and transform to pups in a minimum of seven days. When
nearly full grown their movements were studied with more care, as
they were easier to observe than when newly hatched. At this time
the larva remains near the surface of the water, with its respiratory
siphon at the exact surface and its mouth filaments in constant vibra.
tion, directing food into the mouth cavity. Occasionally the larva
descends to the bottom, but, though repeatedly timed, a healthy indi-
vidual was never seen to remain voluntarily below the surface more
than a minute. In ascending it comes up with an effort, with a series
of jerks and wrigglings with its tail. It descends without effort, but
ascends with difficulty; in other words, its specific gravity seems to be
greater than that of the water. As soon, however, as the respiratory
MOSQUITOES AND FLEAS. rs
siphon reaches the surface, fresh air flows into its trachee, and the
physical properties of the so-called surface film of the water assist it
in maintaining its position.
The account by Miall, in his recently published Natural History of
Aquatic Insects, is misleading, for the reason that he assumes that the
emd of the body, with its four (or,as he has it, five) leaf-like expansions,
is the breathing organ. Asa matter of fact, as is plainly shown by
fig. 2, this end of the body does not reach the surface, and it is the
tip of the respiratory siphon only which is extended to the air. This
respiratory tube takes its origin from the tip of the eighth abdominal
segment, and the very large trachee can be seen extending to its
extremity, where they have a double orifice. The ninth segment of
the abdomen is armed at the tip with four flaps and six hairs,as shown
in fig. 4. These flaps are gill-like in appearance, though they are prob-
ably simply locomotory in function. With so remarkably developed an
\i
Fic. 3.—Culex pungens: Head of larva from below at left; same from above at right—greatly enlarged
(original).
apparatus for direct air breathing there is no necessity for gill struct-
ures. Raschke! and Hurst? consider that the larva breathes both by
the anus and by these giil flaps, as weil as by the large trachez which
open at the tip of the respiratory tube. Naschke considers that these
trachee are so unnecessarily large that they possess a hydrostatic
function. The writer is inclined to believe that the gill flaps may be
functional as branchial structures in the young larva, but that they
largely lose this office in later life. |
After seven or eight days, at a minimum, as just stated, the larva
transforms to pupa. The pupa, as has been repeatedly pointed out
with other species, differs most pronouncedly from the larva in the
great swelling of the thoracic segments. In this stage the insect is
'Raschke, Die Larve von Culex nemorosus, Berlin, 1887.
2 Hurst, The Pupal Stage of Culex, Manchester, 1890.
14 PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS.
lighter than water. It remains motionless at the surface,and when
disturbed does not sink without effort, as does the larva, but is only
able to descend by a violent muscular action. It wriggles and swims
as actively as does the larva, and soon reaches the bottom of the jar
or breeding place. As soon as it ceases to exert itself, however, it
floats gradually up to the surface of the water again. .The fact, how-
ever, that the larva, after itis once below the surface of the water, sinks
rather than rises, accounts for the death of many individuals. If they
become sick or weak, or for any reason are unable to exert sufficient
muscular force to wriggle to the surface at frequent intervals, they will
actually drown, and the writer has seen many of them die in this way.
It seems almost like a contradiction in terms to speak of an aquatic
insect drowning, but this is a frequent cause of mortality among wrig-
glers. This fact also explains the efficacy of the remedial treatment
which causes the surface of the water to become covered with a film of
oil of any kind. Aside from the actual insecticide effect of the oil, the
larve drown from not being able toreach the air. The structure of the
pupa differs in no material respect from that of corresponding stages
of European species, as so admirably figured and described by the older
writers, notably Réaumur and Swammerdam,' and needs no description
in view of the care with which the figures accompanying this article
have been drawn. The air tubes no longer open at the anal end of the
body, but through two trumpet-shaped sclerites on the thorax, from
which it results that the pupa remains upright at the surface, instead
of with the head downward. There is a very apparent object in this
reversal of the position of the body, since the adult insect issues from
the thorax and needs the floating skin to supportitself while its wings
are expanding.
In general, the adult insects issue from the pupe that are two days
old. This gives what is probably the minimum generation for this
species as ten days, namely, sixteen to twenty-four hours for the egg,
seven days for the larva, and two days for the pupa. The individuals
emerging on the first day were invariably males. On the second day
the great majority were males, but there were also a few females. The
preponderance of males continued to hold for three days; later the
females were in the majority. In confinement the males died quickly;
several lived for four days, but none for more than that period. The
females, however, lived for a much longer time. .Some were kept alive
without food, in a confined space of not more than 4 inches deep by 6
across, for three weeks. But one egg mass was deposited in confine-
ment. This was deposited on the morning of June 30 by a female which
issued from the pupa June 27. No further observations were made
upon the time elapsing between the emergence of the female and the
laying of the eggs. but in no case, probably, does it exceed a few days.
1 Even Bonanni, in 1691, gave very fair figures of the larva and pupa of a European
species. Micrographia Curiosa, Rome, MDCXCI, Pars. II, Tab. I.
MOSQUITOES AND FLEAS. | 15
The length of time which elapses for a generation, which we have
just mentioned, is almost indefinitely enlarged if the weather be cool.
Asa matter of fact, a long spell of cool weather followed the issuing of
the adults just mentioned. Larve were watched for twenty days, dur-
ing which time they did not reach full growth.
The extreme shortness of this June generation is significant. It
accounts for the fact that swarms of mosquitoes may develop upon
occasion in surface pools of rain water, which may dry up entirely in
~° Fic. 4.—Culex pungens: Full-grown larva at left; pupa at right above, its anal segment below—all
greatly enlarged (original).
the course of two weeks, or in a chance bucket of water left undis-
turbed for that length of time. Further, the shortness of this genera-
tion was, while not unexpected, not at all in accordance with any pub-
lished statements as to the length of life of any immature mosquito of
any species. But these published statements, as previously shown,
were nearly all based upon observations made in a colder climate and
in the month of May.
On August 1 Mr. F. C. Pratt, an assistant in the division of ento-
16 PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS.
mology, brought in from Lakeland, Md., a small place 9 miles from
Washington, specimens of a large and very ferocious mosquito, which
Mr. Coquillett determined as Anopheles quadrimaculatus Say, a species
which had previously been observed at Washington in August. This
mosquito was very abundant at Lakeland at the time, and its eggs
were obtained, but rearing operations were interrupted by absence from
Washington. At the same time the commonest of the mosquitoes
at Washington was found to be Culex consobrinus. This latter species
was one which was studied by the writer in 1892 in the Catskill Moun-
tains, near Tannersville, Greene County, N. Y. This species in Wash-
ington became, during August, more abundant than C. pungens. Octo-
ber 25, however, the writer found both species in his house, which they
had evidently entered for hibernation. In 1893 several specimens of
pungens were taken in the month of January in the cellar of his house
in Georgetown. This hibernation in cellars as well as in outhouses
is very common, although it is not frequently referred to. Specimens
of C. consobrinus were received in November, 1894, from J. M. Wade, of
Boston, with the statement that they were abundant in his cellar in
that city. The cellar was very cold, although in one corner there was
a tin furnace pipe. The mosquitoes avoided the warm corner, and were
always thickest in the cold parts of the cellar. So abundant were they
that if a lamp were held up the inside of the chimney would soon be
covered half an inch thick with their bodies.
The degree of cold seems to make no difference with this successful
hibernation. Arctic explorers have long since recorded the abundance
of mosquitoes in the extreme north. In the narrative of C. F. Hall’s
second arctic expedition the statementis made that mosquitoes appeared
on the 7th of July, 1869, in extraordinary abundance. Dr. E. Sterling,
of Cleveland, Ohio, has sent us an account of the appearance of mos-
quitoes by thousands in March, 1844, when he was on a snowshoe trip
from Mackinaw to Sault Ste. Marie. Their extraordinary numbers at
this season of the year is remarkable, indicating a most plentiful
hibernation. Mr. H. Stewart, of North Carolina, has written us of a
Similar experience on the north shore of Lake Superior in 1866. On
warm days in March, when the snow was several feet deep and the ice
on the lake 5 feet in thickness, mosquitoes appeared in swarms, ‘literally
blackening the banks of snow in the sheltered places.” The Indians
told Mr. Stewart that the mosquitoes lived through the winter, and
. that the old ones were the most annoying to them. May 9, 1896, Mr.
Lugger sent the writer from St. Anthony Park, Minn., specimens of C.
consobrinus, stating that it came in a genuine swarm in April, with a
heavy snowstorm, at a time when all of the lakes were covered with
ice—“‘ Minnesota’s most certain crop.”
It is a well-known fact that the adult male mosquito does not neces-
sarily take nourishment, and that the adult female does not necessarily _
rely upon the blood of warm-blooded animals. They are plant feeders
MOSQUITOES AND FLEAS. 1G)
and have also been recorded as feeding upon insects. Dr. Hagen men-
tions taking a species in the Northwest feeding upon the chrysalis of a
butterfly, while scattered through the seven volumes of Insect Life are
a number of records of observations of a vegetarian habit, one writer
stating that he has seen them with their beaks inserted in boiled
potatoes on the table, and another that he has seen watermelon rinds
with many mosquitoes settled upon them and busily engaged in sucking
the juices. Mosquitoes undoubtedly feed normally on the juices of
plants, and not one in a million ever gets an opportunity to taste the
blood of a warm-blooded animal. When we think of the enormous
tracts of marsh land into which warm-blooded animals never pene-
trate, and in which mosquitoes are breeding in countless numbers, the
truth of this statement becomes apparent. The males have been
observed sipping at drops of water, and one instance of a fondness for
molasses has been recorded. Mr. EK. A. Schwarz has observed one
drinking beer.
The literature of popular entomology is full of instances of the enor-
mous numbers in which mosquitoes occasionally occur, but a new
instance may not be out of place here. Mr. Schwarz tells the writer
that he has never seen, even in New Jersey, mosquitoes to compare in
numbers with those at Corpus Christi, Tex. When the wind blows from
any other direction than south, he says, hundreds of thousands of mil-
lions of mosquitoes blow in upon the town. Great herds of hundreds
of horses run before the mosquitoes in order to get to the water. With
a change of wind, however, the mosquitoes blow away..
REMEDIES AGAINST MOSQUITOES.
_ Of the remedies in use in houses the burning of pyrethrum powder
and the catching of the mosquitoes on the walls with kerosene in cups,
as déscribed in Insect Life (Vol. V, p. 143), are probably the best, next
to a thorough screening and mosquito bars about the bed. It may be of
interest to mention incidentally a remedy in use among the Chinese, as
recorded in Robert Fortune’s ‘‘ Residence Among the Chinese: Scenes
and Adventures Among the Chinese in 1853-1856” (London, 1857).
Long-necked bags of paper, half an inch in diameter and 2 feet long, are
filled with the following substances: Hither pine or juniper sawdust,
mixed with a small quantity of ‘‘nu-wang” and 1 ounce of arsenic.
These substances are well mixed and run into the bags in a dry state;
each bag’is coiled like a snake and wrapped and tied with thread. The
outer end is lighted and the coil laid on a board. Two coils are suffi-
cient for an ordinary-sized room, and 100 coils sell for 6 cents. Mr.
Mun Yen Chung, of the Chinese legation, has been good enough to inform
the writer that by “‘nu-wang” Mr. Fortune probably meant liu-wang
(brimstone).
Altogether the most satisfactory ways of fighting mosquitoes are
those which result in the destruction of the larvee or the abolition of
2805—No. = 2
18 PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS.
their breeding places. Innot every locality are these measures feasible,
but in many places there is absolutely no necessity for the mosquito
annoyance. The three main preventive measures are the draining of
breeding places, the introduction of small fish into fishless breeding
places, and the treatment of such pools with kerosene. These are three
alternatives, any one of which will be efficacious, and any one of which -
may be used where there are reasons against the trial of the others.
In 1892 the writer published the first account of extensive out of-doors
experiments to determine the actual effect upon the mosquitoes of a
thin layer of kerosene upon the surface of water in breeding pools and
the relative amount to be used. He showed the quantity of kerosene
necessary for a given water surface, and demonstrated further that
not only are the larve and pup thereby destroyed almost immedi-
ately, but that the female mosquitoes are not deterred from attempt-
ing to oviposit upon the surface of the water, and that they are thus
destroyed in large numbers before their eggs are laid. He also showed
approximately the length of time for which one such treatment would
remain operative. No originality was claimed for the suggestion, but
only for the more or less exact experimentation. The writer himself,
as early as 1867, had found that kerosene would kill mosquito larve,
and the same knowledge was probably put in practice, although without
publicity, in other parts of the country. In fact, Mr. H. EK. Weed states
(Insect Life, Vol. VII, p. 212) that in the French quarter of New Orleans
it has been a common practice for many years to place kerosene in the
water tanks to lessen the numbers of mosquitoes in a given locality,
although he knew nothing that had been written to show that such was
the case, and he says: ‘In this age of advancement we can no longer
go by hearsay evidence.” Suggestions as to the use of kerosene, and
even experiments on a water surface 10 inches square, showing that
the larve could be killed by kerosene, were recorded by Mrs. C. B.
Aaron in her Lamborn prize essay and published in the work entitled
‘¢ Dragon Flies versus Mosquitoes” (D. Appleton & Co., 1890). Mr. W.
Beutenmiiller also in the same work made the same suggestion.
The quantity of kerosene to be practically used, as shown by the
writer’s experiments, is approximately 1 ounce to 15 square feet of
water surface, and ordinarily the application need not be renewed for
one month. Since 1892 several demonstrations, on both a large and a
small scale, have been made. Two localities were rid of the mosquito
plague under the supervision of the writer by the use of kerosene
alone. Mr. Weed, in the article above mentioned, states that he rid
the college campus of the Mississippi Agricultural College of mosquitoes
by the treatment with kerosene of eleven large water tanks. Dr. John
B. Smith has recorded, though without details, success with this remedy
in two cases on Long Island (Insect Life, Vol. VI, p. 91). Prof. J. H.
Comstock tells the writer that a similar series of experiments, with
perfectly satisfactory results, was carried out by Mr. Vernon L. Kel-
logg on the campus of Stanford University, at Palo Alto, Cal. In this
MOSQUITOES AND FLEAS. 19
ease post holes filled with surface water were treated, with the result
that the mosquito plague was almost immediately alleviated.
Additional experiments on a somewhat larger scale have been made
by Rey. John D. Long at Oak Island Beach, Long Island Sound, and
by Mr. W. R. Hopson, near Bridgeport, Conn., also on the shores of
Long Island Sound, the experiments in both cases indicating the effi-
eacy of the remedy when applied intelligently. I have not been able
to learn the details of Mr. Hopson’s operations, but am told that they
included extensive draining as well as the use of kerosene.
It is not, however, the great sea marshes along the coast, where mos-
quitoes breed in countless numbers, which we can expect to treat by
this method, but the inland places, where the mosquito supply is derived
from comparatively small swamps and circumscribed pools. In most
localities people endure the torment or direct their remedies against
the adult insect only, without the slightest attempt to investigate the
source of the supply, when the very first step should be the undertak-
ing of such an investigation. In “Gleanings in Bee Culture” (October
1, 1895) we notice the statement in the California column that in some
California towns the pit or vault behind water-closets is subject to
flushing with water during the irrigation of the land near by. A
period of several weeks elapses before more water is turned in, and in
the meantime the water becomes stagnant and the breeding place of
millions of mosquitoes. Then, as the correspondent says, ‘‘people go
around wondering where all the mosquitoes come from, put up screens,
burn buhach, and make a great fuss.” Nothing could be easier than
to pour an ounce of kerosene into each of these pits, and all danger
from mosquitoes will have passed.
In many houses in Baltimore, Md., the sewage drains first into wells
or sinks in the backyard, and thence in some cases into sewers, and in
other cases is pumped out periodically. These wells invariably have
open privies built over them, and the mosquitoes, which breed in the
stagnant contents of the sinks, have free egress into the open air back
of the houses. Hence parts of Baltimore much further removed from
either running or stagnant water than certain parts of Washington,
where no mosquitoes are found, are terribly mosquito ridden, and sleep
without mosquito bars is, from May to December, almost impossible.
Specimens of Culex pungens captured November 5 in such a privy as
described have been brought to the writer from Baltimore by one of his
assistants, Mr. R. M. Reese.
Kerosene has been tried by Mr. Reese in one case in Baltimore, and
two treatments of a privy made about May 1 and June 1, respectively;
seemed to diminish the numbers of the pest in that particular house;
but without concerted action of all the householders in a given block
(all the houses, be it remembered, being exactly alike in the method of
Sewage disposal) no great amount of good could be accomplished.
With such concerted action, however, there seems to be no reason why
20 PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS.
the mosquito plague could not be greatly diminished in many, if not
most, parts of Baltimore at a very small expense. Usually one well
serves two houses, the privies being built in pairs, so that one treatment
would suffice for two dwellings.
On ponds of any size the quickest and most perfect method of form-
ing a film of kerosene will be to spray the oil over the surface of the
water.
The remedy which depends upon draining breeding places needs ne
extended discussion. Naturally the draining off of the water of pools
will prevent mosquitoes from breeding there, and the possibility of
such draining and the means by which it may be done will vary with
each individual case. The writer is informed that an elaborate bit of
work which has been done at Virginia Beach bears on this method.
Behind the hotels at this place, the hotels themselves fronting upon
the beach, was a large fresh-water lake, which, with its adjoining
Swamps, was a source of mosquito supply, and it was further feared
that it made the neighborhood malarious. Two canals were cut from
the lake to the ocean, and by means of machinery the water of the
lake was changed from a body of fresh to a body of salt water. Water
that is somewhat brackish will support mosquitoes, but water which .
is purely salt will destroy them.
The introduction of fish into fishless breeding places is another mat-
ter. It may be undesirable to treat certain breeding places with kero-
sene, aS, for instance, water which is intended for drinking, although
this has been done without harm in tanks where, as is customary, the
drinking supply is drawn from the bottom of the tank. An interesting
case noted in Insect Life (Vol. IV, p. 223), in which a pair of carp was
placed in each of several tanks, in the Riviera, is a case in point. The
value of most small fishes for the purpose of destroying mosquito
larvee was well indicated by an experience described to us by Mr.
C. H. Russell, of Bridgeport, Conn. In this casea very high tide broke
away a dike and flooded the salt meadows of Stratford, a small town
a few miles from Bridgeport. The receding tide left two small lakes,
nearly side by side and of the same size. In one lake the tide left a
dozen or more small fishes, while the other was fishless. An examination
by Mr. Russell in the summer of 1891 showed that while the fishless
lake contained tens of thousands of mosquito larve, that containing
the fish had no larve.
The use of carp for this purpose has been mentioned in the preceding
paragraph, but most small fish will answer as well. The writer knows
of none that will be better than either of the common little stickle-
backs (Gasterosteus aculeatus or Pygosteus pungitius). They are small,
but very active and very voracious. Mr. F. W. Urich, of Trinidad,
has written us that there is a little cyprinoid common in that island
which answers admirably for this purpose. This fish has not been
specifically determined, but we hope to make an effort to introduce it
MOSQUITOES AND FLEAS. 21
into our Southern States, if it proves to be new to our fauna. At Bee-
ville, Tex., a little fish is used for this purpose which is there called a
perch, although we have not been able to find out just what the species
is. They soon eat up the mosquito larve, however, and in order to keep
them alive the people adopt an ingenious fly trap, which they keep in
their houses and in which about a quart of flies a day is caught. These
flies are then fed to the fish. This makes a little circle which strikes
us as particularly ingenious and pleasant. The fly traps catch the
flies and rid the house of that pest. The flies are fed to the fish in
the water tanks and keep them alive in order that they may feed on
the mosquito larvee, thus keeping the houses free of mosquitoes.
Where kerosene is considered objectionable, and where fish can not
be readily obtained, there is another course left open. It is the con-
stant artificial agitation of the water, since mosquitoes will oviposit
only in still water. At San Diego, Tex., in the summer there are no
streams for many miles, but plenty of mosquitoes breed in the water
tanks. Some enterprising individuals keep their tanks free by putting
in a little wheel, which is turned by the windmill, and keeps the water
almost constantly agitated.
THE MOSQUITOES OF THE COUNTRY AT LARGE.
In the introductory paragraph the writer has indicated that we have
numerous species among the mosquitoes of the United States and that
several different species may occur in the same locality. It happens,
however, that no definite knowledge exists, even among entomologists
as to the exact species which may be found in any given locality. The
desirability of a careful study of our mosquitoes is therefore apparent.
As a preliminary step, the writer borrowed all of the mosquitoes from
the collections of Prof. Lawrence Bruner, of the University of Nebraska,
Lincoln, Nebr.; Prof. J. H. Comstock, of Cornell University, Ithaca,
N. Y.; Prof. H. Garman, of the agricultural experiment station at
Lexington, Ky.; Prof. C. P. Gillette, agricultural experiment station,
Fort Collins, Colo.; Prof. C. W. Johnson, Wagner Free Institute, Phil-
adelphia, Pa.; Prof. Otto Lugger, agricultural experiment station,
St. Anthony Park, Minn.; Dr. W. A. Nason, Algonquin, Ill., and Mr.
Th. Pergande, Washington, D.C. The material thus received, together
with the collection of Culicide of the department of insects in the
National Museum, was placed in the hands of Mr. D. W. Coquillett for
Specific study.
The results of this study were interesting. Mr. Coquillett had under
his hands mosquitoes from nearly all portions of the United States.
He found that the material represented twenty different species, of five
genera, and was able to make out some important synonymical facts.
In the distribution of certain species the results were unexpected. It
was found that some of the commoner forms, viz, Culex consobrinus,
C. excitans, C. perturbans, OC. posticatus, C. pungens, Prosophora ciliata,
Fe PRINCIPAL -HOUSEHOLD INSECTS.
Anopheles punctipennis, and A. quadrimaculata, occur all over the
country, from New England to Texas, and even to southern California.
In almost any given locality in the United States, therefore, one would
probably be able to find all of these eight species, with perhaps two or
three additional ones.
The list which follows was drawn up by Mr. Coquillett, and embodies,
in part, the results of his studies. It must be remembered that, after
all, the material was scanty, since no one has taken the trouble to
thoroughly collect mosquitoes. The list represents, however, a distinct
and important advance ou our former knowledge of these annoying
creatures.
LIST OF THE MOSQUITOES OF THE UNITED STATES.
(A) Species examined by D. W. Coquillett.
Culex consobrinus Desy. 3 males, 18 females.
Synonyms: Culex punctor Kirby; C. impatiens Walk.; C. pinguis Walk.; C. inor-
natus Will. (the latter synonymy based on a study of one of Williston’s co-
type specimens).
Habitat: White Mountains, N. H.; Beverly, Mass., September 28 (Nat. Mus.);
Catskill Mountains, Greene County, N. Y., 2,500 feet (Howard) ; Illinois, March
21, April 29, May 6, October 16 (Nason); St. Anthony Park, Minn., April, May,
on snow (Lugger); Saskatchewan River, British America; South Dakota (Nat.
Mus.); Lincoln, Nebr., May, September (Bruner); Colorado (Nat. Mus.); Los
Angeles, Cal., February (Coquillett) ; Argus Mountains, Cal., April (Nat. Mus.) ;
Santa Fé, N. Mex., July (Cockerell).
Culex excitans Walk. 3 males, 2 females.
Habitat: New Bedford, Mass. (Johnson); Lincoln, Nebr., May (Bruner); Santa
Fé, N. Mex., July (Cockerell).
Culex excrucians Walk. 3 females.
Habitat: Ithaca, N. Y., July 14 (Comstock).
Culex fasciatus Fabr. 4 males, 2 females.
Synonyms: Culex teniatus Wied.; Culex mosquito Desv. (non Arribalzaga).
Habitat: Georgia, August (Coquillett) ; Natchitoches, La., October 6 (Johnson) ;
Isle of Pines, W. I. (Scudder); Kingston, Jamaica, July 13 (Johnson).
Culex impiger Walk. 14 males, 50 females.
Synonym: Culex implecabilis Walk.
Habitat: White Mountains, N. H.; Beverly, Mass., May 24, June 2 (Nat. Mus.);
Ithaca, N. Y., July 9 and 17, August 28; Wilmuth, N. Y., June 10 (Comstock) ;
Saskatchewan River, British America (Nat. Mus.); Minnesota (Lugger); .
Loudon County, Va., Aug. 26 (Pratt); Tyrone, Ky., July 14 (Garman); Georgia
(Nat. Mus.) ; Mesilla, N. Mex., (Cockerell) ; Isle of Pines, W. I. (Scudder); Port-
land, Jamaica (Johnson).
Culex perturbans Walk. 8 females.
Habitat: Lakeland, Md., August 8 (Pratt); Virginia, cae 17 (Pergande) ;
Tick Island, Fla., May 12 (Johnson); Texas (Nat. Mus.).
Culex posticatus Wied. 5 females.
Synonym: Culex musicus Say.
Habitat: Montgomery County, Pa., July 17 (Johnson); Texas (Nat. Mus.).
Culex pungens Wied. 25 males, 103 females.
Habitat: White Mountains, N. H.; Beverly, Mass., September 5; Cambridge,
Mass., September 16 to November 5; Boston, Mass.; Baltimore, Md., Novem-
ber 5 (Nat. Mus.), November 26 (Lugger); Charlton Heights, Md., December 1
MOSQUITOES AND FLEAS. 23
(Pratt); District of Columbia, January 30, March 5, May 6 anid 15, June 28, July
11, August, October 10, 15, 25, and 31, November 4, 8, 13, 16, and 23, December -
23 (Pergande); Ithaca, N. Y., May 29, July 17, August 28 (Comstock); Illinois
(Nason); Minnesota (Lugger); Lincoln, Nebr., September 20 (Bruner); Lex-
ington, Ky., November 10 (Garman); New Orleans, La., December 17 (Howard) ;
San Antonio, Tex., May 5 (Marlatt); Georgia, August (Coquillett); Portland,
Jamaica (Johnson).
Culex signifer Coq. 1 female.
Habitat: District of Columbia, June (Coquillett).
Culex stimulans Walk. 13 males, 54 females.
Habitat: White Mountains, N. H.; Beverly, Mass., June 2, July 9; Cambridge,
Mass., May; Jamaica Plain, Mass., August 25 (Nat. Mus.); Baltimore, Md.
(Lugger); Illinois, August 1, September 15, October 5 (Nason); Agricultural
College, Mich. (Gillette); Saskatchewan River, British America (Nat. Mus.);
Lincoln, Nebr. (Bruner); Colorado (Nat. Mus.); Ithaca, N. Y., June 13, 18, 29,
July 14, August 28; Wilmuth, N. Y., June 10 (Comstock); Georgia (Nat. Mus.).
Culex tarsalis Cog. 1 male, 4 females.
Habitat: Argus Mountains, Cal., April; Folsom, Cal., July 3 (Nat. Mus.).
Culex triseriata Say. 3 females.
Habitat: White Mountains,N. H. (Nat. Mus.); Delaware County, Pa., June 12
(Johnson); Washington, D. C., May 5, Loudon County, Va. (Pratt).
Culex tzeniorhynchus Wied. 1 male, 32 females.
(Not the Culex teniorhynchus Wied. of Arribalzaga.)
Habitat: Maine, August; Beverly, Mass., June, September 15° (Nat. Mus.);
Avalon, Anglesea, and batt City, N. J., July 10 to 29 (Johnson); Far
Bocaway. Long Island, N. Y., Aug. 30 Geonrard District of Columbia
(Pergande); Georgia (Nat. Mus.); St. Augustine and Charlotte Harbor, Fla.,
July; Portland, Jamaica (Johnson).
Psorophora ciliata Fabr. 2 males, 29 females.
Habitat: Dorchester, Mass. (Nat. Mus.); Washington, D. C. (Chittenden);
Westville, N. J., July 2 (Johnson); Illinois (Nason); Brooklyn Bridge, Ky.,
June 23 (Garman); Lincoln, Nebr., July, August (Bruner); Los Angeles, Cal.
(Coquillett); San Diego, Tex., May 15 (Schwarz); Florida, July (Nat. Mus.).
Anopheles crucians Wied. 3 females.
Habitat: District of Columbia, April 27 (Pergande); Georgia (Nat. Mus. No
Anopheles punctipennis Say. 5 males, 13 females.
(Considered by Wiedemann to be the same species as his Anopheles crucians, but
the two are certainly distinct. )
Synonym: Culex hyemalis Fitch (wrongly referred to Anopheles quadrimaculata
in the Osten Sacken Catalogue).
Habitat: Castleton, Vt., February 1 (temperature 6° F.); Beverly, Mass., Sep-
tember 19, October 2; Cambridge, Mass., June 16, September 30, October 20
(Nat. Mus.); Charlton Heights, Md., March 31, November 17 (Pratt); District
of Columbia, June 6, October 15, 25, and 31 (Pergande); Philadelphia, Pa.,
October 12 (Johnson); Ithaca, N.Y., April 17, August 28 (Comstock); Illinois,
October 16 (Nason); Texas (Nat. Mus.); Mesilla, N. Mex. (Cockerell); Port-
land, Jamaica (Johnson).
Anopheles quadrimaculata Say. 3 males, 31 females.
Habitat: Berlin Falls, N. H., August (Nat. Mus.); Ithaca, N. Y., January, ie
31, November 28 (Comstock): Lakeland, Md., August 8; Chartean Heights,
Md., November 24 (Pratt); District of Golamnbie: July, Outober 15, November
2 and 14 (Pergande); [llinois, September 10, October 10 (Nason); St. Anthony
Park, Minn., December 11 (Lugger); Tick Island, Fla., May 12 (Johnson);
Texas (Nat, Mus.).
24 PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS.
Megarhinus ferox Wied. 1 male.
Habitat: District of Columbia, August 22 (Pergande).
Megarhinus rutilus Coq. 3 males, 5 females.
Habitat: North Carolina; Georgiana, Fla. (Nat. Mus.).
Aédes sapphirinus Q.S. 1 female.
Habitat: Ithaca, N. Y. (Comstock).
(B) Species recorded from the United States, but not included in the material studied.
Culex rubidus Desvoidy, Culicides, etc. Carolina.
Culex testaceus v. d. Wulp, Tijdschr. v. Entom., 2d ser., II, 128, Tab. III, f.1. Wis-
consin.
Culex incidens Thomson, Eugenie’s Resa, etc., 443. California.
Culex territans Walker, Dipt. Saund., 428. United States.
Psorophora boscii Desvoidy, Culicides, ete. Carolina.
Anopheles annulimanus v. d. Wulp, Tijdschr. v. Entom., 2d ser., II, 129, Tab. III, f. 2.
Wisconsin. :
Anopheles ferruginosus Wiedemann, Auss. Zw., I, 12. New Orleans (Wied.); on the
Mississippi (Say).
Culex quinquefasciatus Say, Journ. Ac. Phil., III, 10, 2; Compl. Wr., II, 39.
(Change of name by Wied.)
Anopheles maculipennis Meigen (European species, which also oceurs in North America,
according to Loew, Sillim. Journ., n. ser., Vol. XXXVII, 317).
Anopheles nigripes Staeger (European species, which also occurs in North America,
according td’ Loew, Sillim. Journ., n. ser., Vol. XX XVII, 317).
Aédes fuscus O. Sacken, Western Diptera, 191. Cambridge, Mass.
THE CAT AND DOG FLEA.
(Pulex serraticeps Gerv.)
Examination of many specimens of fleas sent to the Department in
recent years shows that the species which commonly overruns houses
during the damp summers, in our Eastern cities at least, is not, as many
have supposed, the human flea (Pulex irritans), but the common cos-
mopolitan flea of the dog and the cat (Pulex serraticeps). There is wide-
spread ignorance as to the transformations of this insect, and even the
average entomologist is puzzled to know where to consult good figures
of the different stages and a detailed account of the life history. The
figures accompanying this article have been prepared to fill this want,
and the following account of the transformations has been drawn up
from notes made during the summer of 1895, at the request of the
writer, by Mr. Pergande, of the division of entomology. The best two
of the previously published articles are, one by Laboulbene, in the
Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 1872, pp. 267-273, PI.
XIII, and the other by W. J. Simmons, read before the Microscopical
Society of Calcutta, March 5, 1888, and printed in The American
Monthly Microscopical Journal for December, 1888, with no illustra-
tions.?
1Ritzema has written an article on the natural history of the dog flea, which,
however, could not be consulted by the writer.
MOSQUITOES AND FLEAS. 25
Laboulbéne describes carefully the pretty, oval, waxy white or
opaque, porcelain-colored, smooth egg, which reaches 0.5 mm. in
length. He describes the external appearance of the larve and recites
their extremely rapid movements, which are made by means of the
bristles with which they are furnished, and particularly by means of
the tubercle and the hair-like spines below the head. He placed larve
upon dust, with birds’ feathers mixed with dried blood, upon which
they developed perfectly. Others were put on the sweepings of aroom,
and developed just as well. Laboulbene at first believed that blood
was necessary for the nourishment of the larvae, the reddish-colored
contents of the digestive tract making him think so; but he found they
would flourish and complete their metamorphoses in sweepings in which
there was no trace of blood. He concluded that all that has been said
on Pulex irritans nourishing its young on dried blood is very problem-
Fic. 5.—-Pulez serraticeps ; a, egg; b, larva in cocoon; ¢, pupa; d, adult; e, mouth-parts of same from
side; f, labium of same from below; g, antenna of same—all enlarged (original).
atical. In his opinion the larve of the cat flea for the most part live
upon the ground in spots where cats stay, and that they live in the
dust in the cracks of the floor. The cocoon he described as ovoid,
almost rounded, brown and granular, because it is covered with dust,
delicate, but difficult to open, attached by one surface. It is about
2.5mm. by 2.75mm. The only statement in the article regarding the
length of the different stages is to the effect that the pupal condition
lasts from one to two weeks.
Mr. Simmons found the eggs upon a cloth upon which a dog had
been sleeping, in the midst of a dust composed of fragments of cuticle,
hairs, fibers, and pellets of dried blood, the last being probably the nat-
ural excreta of the fleas. In fifty hours most of the eggs hatched. The
larve are described, and the statement is made that in seven days they
began to spin their cocoons. They remained in the cocoons eight days,
26 PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS.
when the adults emerged, completing their transformations seventeen
days after the eggs were deposited.
The eggs of the flea under consideration are deposited between the
hairs of the infested animals, but are not fastened to them, so that when
the animal moves about or lies down numbers of the eggs will be dis-
lodged and drop to the ground or the floor or wherever the animal may
be at the time. An easy way to collect them, therefore, is to lay a strip
of cloth for the animal to sleep upon, and afterwards brush the cloth
into a receptacle, in which the eggs will be found in numbers. Some
difficulty was found in securing proper conditions of moisture to bring
about successful rearing, and some detailed account of our experience
will be of vaiue to persons who desire to repeat the rearing in order to
secure material for microscopic study, and will be at the same time
suggestive as bearing on the conditions under which the insect will
multiply in houses.
On June 27 a number of eggs were collected and placed in two glass
vessels, one large and one small, each containing a layer of sand at the
bottom, next a layer of sawdust, and on top of this a layer of rich soil.
The eggs were placed between two layers of blotting paper on top of
the soil. On June 29 fourteen of the eggs had hatched in the small
vessel, and the larve had crawled at once down into the sawdust.
On July 1 some of the eggs were found to have hatched in the large
vessel, and the alimentary canal of the larve was already brownish,
indicating that they had been feeding to some extent and presumably
upon the particles of dried blood collected with the eggs and placed
with them between the layers of blotting paper. By July 11 all of these
larvee in both vessels had died, apparently without having cast a skin.
They were very active during most of this period, crawling rapidly
about when disturbed. Some were noticed to feed upon particles of
peat which was placed with them. From some of these individuals
fig.6 was made. On the second antennal joint there was apparent a
sensorial spot, and on or near the base of the antennz were two small,
slender, fleshy tubercles and a few granulations on each side, some dis-
tance behind the antenne. At the base of the head above occurred a
small, apparently well-differentiated sclerite, as indicated in fig. 6, b, the
purpose of which we can not surmise. Immediately behind it, on the
anterior border of the first thoracic segment, is apparently a delicate
sculpturing, indicating a thickening of the integument at this point.
The posterior border of this segment is a somewhat similar, faintly
indicated band. The first nine segments bear each four dorsal bristles
and, on each side, one ventro-lateral bristle, near the posterior margin.
The two following segments bear each six dorsal bristles and one ventro-
lateral bristle, and the penultimate segment eight dorsal and one ven-
tral bristle. These bristles become gradually longer toward the end of
the body. The last segment is without long bristles, although there is
a semicircular transverse row of numerous fine hairs and a small patch
MOSQUITOES AND FLEAS. 2%
of still finer hairs on each of the anal lobes near the base of the anal
prolegs, as shown in fig. 6, ¢.
On July 6 another lot of eggs was placed in each of the two different
vessels. One lot was kept moist and the other dry, and both lots were
provided with nothing but the particles of dried blood and a few
erumbs of dry bread. On July 8 it was discovered that all of the eggs
had hatched. Both vessels had been kept closed under a glass cover.
Those between the layers of damp blotting paper had apparently not
fed. Some were dead, having crawled up the sides of the vessel.
Those in the dry receptable were very lively and had fed abundantly,
so that the whole alimentary canal, from one end to the other, was
dark brown.
Fic. 6.—Pulex serraticeps: a, larva; b, head; c, anal end of same—greatly enlarged (original).
On July 9 the larve in the dry receptacle had cast the first skin,
but upon careful examination were seen to agree perfectly with those
of the first stage, except that they were larger. No trace of eyes could
be found in either stage. The mandibles apparently bore four blunt
teeth. At this date the larve kept in the moist receptacle had not
cast a Skin, and appeared almost colorless, having fed very little. In
both vessels, however, all the larve were very active and ran about
very briskly. Their movements when crawling recall those of many
Tineid larve. Ten individuals of the second stage were removed to
another vessel to see whether they would cast a second skin. .
On July 10 all of the larve in the original moist vessel died. Those
in the dry vessel, which had been fed with bread crumbs, were still
growing nicely, and were very active. By July 15 all the larve which
had been transferred, to watch for further molts, had died without
28 PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS.
molting. They either stuck to the crumbs, which were rather greasy,
or to the sides of the glass, which had also become somewhat greasy.
On the same date the larvee in the dry vessel, from which these ten
had been removed, commenced to spin up. Many were restlessly run-
ning about in search of suitable places for spinning, and some had even
reached the top of the blotting paper. A thin layer of gray cotton
was placed between the two blotting papers to give them suitable
spinning places. The eggs hatched in two days, having been kept dry
all the time. The first skin was cast two days after hatching, and the
beginning of spinning occurred eight days after hatching.
By July 19 no more specimens had spun up and many had died. The
receptacle seemed to be too dry and too hot, and the blotting paper was
somewhat moistened. But one pupa was found, which was that of a
larva which began to spin July 15. July 21 no others had spun up,
although they were still very lively. The pupa had become brownish.
July 22 the adult flea issued over night and escaped through the cov-
ering. From that time until July 29 no more spun cocoons, and many
of them died. On July 30 one of the survivors commenced to spin,
twenty-four days after hatching. The cocoon is delicate, white in
color, and is very well shown at fig. 5.
On August 2 this larva, which commenced to spin July 21, changed
to pupa. On August 6 it was still white in color, becoming somewhat
yellowish on the 7th and quite brown on the 8th. On the 9th the adult
flea was found to have issued overnight. The pupa state, therefore,
lasted about eight days, and it is to be noted that the pupa remains
white until shortly before the emergence of the adult. It was supposed
that the pupa stage in this instance was longer than usual, on account
of the fact that the larval stage was so soy much longer than in the
first instance.
On July 11 another series of Su veemnente § was started, in order to
gauge the variation in the duration of the stages and settle the ques-
tion of the number of larval molts. Eggs collected on this date
hatched July 13. On July 16, of fifteen larvee eleven had cast the first
skin. On July 18 five specimens cast the second skin. July 19 the
weather was extremely warm and a number of the larve died. July 20
the heat continued, and more died. On July 23 seven larve which had
east the first skin remained; one of them had begun to spin up. There
were on the morning of this date three cast skins in the receptacle, so
that there are apparently three molts. In this final state the bristles
have become longer and the mandibles have two teeth at the apex.
The remaining four were carried on until August 8, when the last one
died, none. of them having succeeded in casting a third skin. Of the
entire lot, but one was reared to the pupa state, and this pupa was
preserved in alcohol for drawing. The record of this advanced speci-
men shows three molts, and that it began to spin eight days after
hatching. The average of the others shows that the eggs hatch in
MOSQUITOES AND FLEAS. 29
from two to four days and that some of the larve cast their first skin
three to four days later, and a second skin two to six days later.
On July 15 another series was begun. The eggs collected on this
date began to hatch on the 17th and all had hatched by the morning
of the 18th. July 21 some of them had cast the first skin.
August 1 the first one spun up; August 3, two more; August 6, two
more. At this date the first one which constructed its cocoon turned
brown. August 7 one full-grown larva transformed to pupa without
spinning a cocoon. August 12 the first adult emerged. A summary
for this lot shows that the eggs hatch in from two to four days and
that the Jarve cast the first skin from five to seven days later. Some
spun up sixteen to twenty days after hatching, and the imago appeared
six days later.
Observation of these last two lots shows that the larve are very apt
to die if kept too dry or too moist. They also need plenty of air.
July 20 another series was begun. Eggs collected on this date
hatched the following day. July 24 the first skin was cast; July 26, in
one case a second skin was cast. July 27 three more cast a second
skin, and on this date one individual spun its cocoon. July 29 three
more began to spin; on July 30 many more. On July 30 the first one
that began to spin was found to have changed to pupa. August 2
many cocoons were found. Some of the larve, disturbed while spin-
ning, left the incomplete cocoon and transformed to pupa outside of it.
Most of the advanced specimens were placed in alcohol, and it was not
until August 14 that an adult was allowed to emerge.
This series of observations showed that the eggs hatched about one
day after being placed in the vessels. The larvee cast their first skin
in from three to seven days, and their second skin in from three to four
days. They commenced spinning in from seven to fourteen days after
hatching, and the imago appeared five days later.
From these observations it appears that in summer at Washington
many specimens will undergo their transformations quite as rapidly as
Mr. Simmons found to be the case at Calcutta, and that an entire gen-
eration may develop in little more than a fortnight; also that an excess
of moisture is prejudicial to the successful development of the insect
and that in the same way the breeding place must not be too dry. The
little particles of blood found among the eggs on the cloth upon
which the infested animal has slept are probably the excrement of the
aduit fleas. This substance in itself, together with what vegetable
dust is found in the places where these larvee rear themselves, suffices
for the larval food. .
REMEDIES.
Flea larve will not develop successfully in situations where they are
likely to be disturbed. That they will develop in the dust in the cracks
in floors which are not frequently swept has been observed by the
writer. The overrunning of houses in summer during the temporary
30 PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS.
absence of the occupants is undoubtedly due to the development of
a brood of fleas in the dust in the cracks of the floor from eggs which
have been dropped by some pet dog or cat. This overrunning is
more liable to occur in moist than in excessively dry summer weather,
and it is more likely to occur during the absence of the occupants of
the house, for the reason that the floors do not, under such cirecum-
stances, receive their customary sweeping. The use of carpets or
straw mnattings, in our opinion, favors their development under the cir-
cumstances above mentioned. The young larve are so slender and so
active that they readily penetrate the interstices of both sorts of cover-
ings and find an abiding place in some crack where they are not likely
to be disturbed.
That it is not difficult to destroy this flea in its early stages is shown
by the difficulty we have had in rearing it; but to destroy the adult fleas
is another matter. Their extreme activity and great hardiness render
any but the most strenuous measures unsuccessful. In such cases we
have tried a number of the ordinarily recommended remedies in vain.
Even the persistent use of California buhach and other pyrethrum
powders, and, what seems still stranger, a free sprinkling of floor mat-
ting with benzine, were ineffectual in one particular case of extreme
infestation. In fact, it was not until all the floor mattings had been
taken up and the floor washed down with hot soapsuds that the flea
pest abated. In another case, however, the writer found that a single
application of California buhach, freely applied, was perfectly success-
ful; and in a third case a single thorough application of benzine also
resulted in perfect success. The pyrethrum application was made in a
Brooklyn (N. Y.) house, and the benzine application in a Washington
residence. The frequently recommended newspaper remedy of placing
a piece of raw meat in the center of a piece of sticky fly paper has been
thoroughly tried by the writer, without the slightest success. As a
palliative measure, however, the plan adopted by Professor Gage in
the McGraw Building of Cornell University, and described at length
on page 422 of Vol. VII, Insect Life, may be worth trying. It will be
remembered that Professor Gage tied sheets of sticky fly paper, with
the sticky side out, around the legs of the janitor of the building, who
then for several hours walked up and down the floor of the infested
room, with the result that all or nearly all of the fleas jumped on his
ankles, as they will always do, and were caught by the fly paper.
In his recent summary of the described fleas (Canadian Entomolo-
gist, August, 1895, pp. 221-222) Mr. C. F. Baker shows that there are
forty-seven valid species, which attack all sorts of warm-blooded
animals. The species which we have just considered (Pulex serrati-
ceps Gervais) is, as he states, the common cat and dog flea, well known
over all parts of the world. Mr. Baker further states that, ‘‘besides
the various wild cats and dogs, it has been reported from Herpestes
ichneumon (Pharaoh’s rat), Fetorius putorius (common polecat of
MOSQUITOES AND FLEAS. 31
Europe), Hyena striata (striped hyena), Lepus timidus (common hare),
and Procyon lotor (raccoon). It is also said to occasionally sip human
blood [ste /]. I have specimens from various parts of North America,
and also from Europe.” Many unfortunate inhabitants of New York,
Philadelphia, Washington, and Baltimore during the past few summers
will be able to verify Mr. Baker’s statement that the species ocea-
sionally sips human blood! This species may be distinguished at a
glance from the so-called human flea (Pulex irritans) by the fact that
the latter species does not possess the strong recurved spines on the
margin of the head, which show so distinctly in fig. 5.
CHAPTER II.
THE BEDBUG AND CONE-NOSE.
By C. L. MAR.LaTT.
THE BEDBUG.
(Cimex lectularius Linn.)
This disgusting hitman parasite, the very discussion of which is
tabooed in polite society, is practically limited to houses of the meaner
sort, or where the owners are indifferent or careless, or to hostelries
not always of the cheaper kind. The careful housekeeper would feel it
a signal disgrace to have her chambers invaded by this insect, and, in
point of fact, where ordinary care and vigilance are maintained the
danger in this direction is very slight. The presence of this insect,
however, is not necessarily an indication of neglect or carelessness, for,
Fic. 7.—Cimez lectularius: a, adult female, gorged with blood; b, same, from below; ¢, rudimentary
wing-pad; d, mouth-parts—all enlarged (original). ©
little as the idea may be relished, it may often gain access in spite of
the best of care and the adoption of all reasonable precautions. Itis
very apt to get into the trunks and satchels of travelers, and may thus
be introduced into homes. Unfortunately, also, it is quite capable of |
migrating from one house to another, and will often continue to come
from an adjoining house, sometimes for a period of several months,
gaining entrance daily. Such migration is especially apt to take place
if the human inhabitants of an infested house leave it. With the
32
THE BEDBUG AND CONE-NOSE. aa
failure of their usual source of food, the migratory instinet is devel-
oped, and escaping through windows, they pass along walls, water pipes,
or gutters, and thus gain entrance into adjoining houses. It is expe-
dient, therefore, to consider this insect, unsavory as the subject may
be, since, as shown, it may be anyone’s misfortune to have his premises
temporarily invaded.
As with nearly all the insects associated with man, the bedbug has
had the habits now characteristic of it as far back as the records run.
It was undoubtedly of common occurrence in the dwellings of the
ancient peoples of Asia. The Romans were well acquainted with it, giv-
ing it the name Cimex. It was supposed by Pliny (and this was doubt-
less the common belief among the Romans) to have medicinal properties,
and it was recommended, among other things, as a specific for the bites
of serpents. It is said to have been first introduced into England in
1503, but the references to it are of such a nature as to make it very
probable that it had been there long previously. Two hundred and fifty
Fie. 8.— Cimex lectularius. Egg and newly hatched larva of bedbug: a, larva from below; b, larva |
from above; ¢, claw; d, egg; e, hair or spine of larva—greatly enlarged; natural size of larva and
egg indicated by hair lines (original).
years later it was reported to be very abundant in the seaport towns,
but was scarcely known inland. It has been inferred that the following
reference from the old English Bible of 1551 is to this insect: “Thou
shalt not nede to be afriad for eny Bugges by night” (Psalm XCTI, 5).
One of the old English names was “wall-louse.” It was afterwards
very well known as the ‘“chinch,” which continued to be the common
appellation for it until within a century or two, and is still used in parts
of this country. The origin of the name “bedbug” is not known, but
it is such a descriptive one that it would seem to have been very natu-
rally suggested. Almost everywhere there are local names for this
parasite, as, for illustration, around Boston they are called ‘“‘chintzes”
and ‘‘chinches,” and from Baltimore comes the name ‘mahogany flat,”
while in New York they are styled ‘‘red coats.”
The bedbug has accompanied man wherever he has gone. Vessels
are almost sure to be infested with it. It is not especially limited by
cold, and is known to occur well north. It probably came to this
2805—No. 4 3
34 PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS.
country with the earliest colonists, at least Kalm, writing in 1748-49,
stated that it was plentiful in the English colonies and in Canada,
though unknown among the Indians.
The bedbug belongs to the order Hemiptera, which includes the true
bugs or piercing insects, characterized by possessing a piercing and
sucking beak. The bedbug is to man what the chinch bug is to grains
or the squash bug to cucurbs. Like nearly all the insects parasitic on
animals, however, it is degraded structurally, its parasitic nature aud
the slight necessity for extensive locomotion having resulted, after
many ages doubtless, in the loss of wings and the assumption of a
comparatively simple structure. The wings are represented by the
merest rudiments, barely recognizable pads, and it lacks the simple
eyes or ocelli of most other true bugs. In form it is much flattened,
obovate, and in color is rust red, with the abdomen more or less tinged
with black. The absence of wings is a most fortunate circumstance,
since otherwise thcre would be no safety from it even for the most
careful and thorough of housekeepers. Some slight variation in length
of wing pads has been observed, but none with wings showing any
considerable development have ever been found.
A closely allied species is a parasitic messmate in the nests of the
common barn or eaves swallow in this country, and it often happens that
the nests of these birds are fairly alive with these vermin. The latter
not infrequently gain access to houses, and cause the housekeeper con-
siderable momentary alarm. At least three species occur also in Eng-
land, all very closely resembling the bedbug. One of these is found in
pigeon cotes, another in the nests of the English martin, and a third in
places frequented by bats. What seems to be the true bedbug, or at
least a mere variety, also occurs occasionally in poultry houses.!
The most characteristic feature of the insect is the very distinct and
disagreeable odor which it exhales, an odor well known to all who have
been familiar with it as the ‘‘buggy” odor. This odor is by no means
limited to the bedbug, but is characteristic of most plant bugs also.
The common chinch bug affecting small grains and the squash bugs all
possess this odor, and it is quite as pungent with these plant-feeding
forms as with the human parasite. The possession of this odor, dis-
agreeable as it is, 1s, after all, a most fortunate circumstance, as it is of
considerable assistance in detecting the presence of these vermin. The
odor comes from glands, situated in various parts of the body, which
secrete a clear, oily, volatile liquid. The possession of this odor is cer-
tainly, with the plant-feeding forms, a means of protection against
insectivorous birds, rendering these insects obnoxious or distasteful to
their feathered enemies. With the bedbug it is probably an illustration
of a very common phenomenon among animals, the persistence of a
characteristic which is no longer of any especial value to the possessor
of it. The natural enemies of true bugs, against which this odor serves
‘Insect Life, Vol, VI, p. 166, Osborn.
THE BEDBUG AND CONE-NOSE. 35
as a means of protection, in the conditions under which the bedbug
lives, are kept away from it, and the roach, which will be shown later
to feed on bedbugs, is evidently not deterred by the odor, while the com-
mon house ant, which will also attack the bedbug, seems not to find this
odor disagreeable.
The bedbug is thoroughly nocturnal in habit and displays a certain
degree of wariness and caution, or intelligence, in its efforts at con-
cealment during the day. It thrives particularly in filthy apartments
and in old houses which are full of cracks and crevices in which it can
conceal itself beyond easy reach. It usually leaves the bed at the
approach of daylight to go into concealment either in cracks in the
bedstead, if it be one of the old wooden variety, or behind wainscoting,
or under loose wall paper, where it manifests its gregarious habit by col-
lecting in masses together. The old-fashioned heavy wooden bedsteads
are especially faverable for the concealment and multiplication of this
diately after emerging from a; c, same after first meal, distended with blood (original).
insect, and the general use in later years of iron and brass bedsteads
has very greatly facilitated its eradication. They are not apt to be
very active in winter, especially in cold rooms, and ordinarily hibernate
in their places of concealment.
The bedbug, though normally feeding on human blood, seems to be
abie to subsist for a time at Jeast on much simpler food, and in fact the
evidence is pretty conclusive that itis able to get more or less suste-
nance from the juices of moistened wood, or the moisture in the accu-
mulations of dust, ete., in crevices in flooring. No other explanation
would seem to account for the fact that houses long unoccupied are
found, on being reinhabitated, to be thoroughly stocked with bedbugs.
There is a very prevalent belief among the old settlers in the West
that this insect normally lives on dead or diseased cottonwood logs,
and is almost certain to be abundant in log houses of this wood. This
belief was recently voiced by Capt. S. M. Swigert, U.S. A., who reports
that it often occurs in numbers under the bark of dead trees of cotton-
36 PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS.
wood (Populus monilifera), especially along the Big and Little Horn
rivers in Montana.
The origin of this misconception—for such it is—so far as the out-of-
door occurrence is concerned, is probably, as pointed out by Professor
Riley, from a confusion of the bedbug with the immature stages of an
entirely distinct insect (Aradus sp.) which somewhat resembles the
former and often occurs under cottonwood bark. In houses, green or
moist cottonwood logs or lumber may actually furnish sustenance in
the absence of human food. The bedbug is, however, known to be
able to survive for long periods without food, specimens having been
kept for a year in a sealed vial, with absolutely no means of sustenance
whatever, and in unoccupied houses it can undoubtedly undergo fasts
of extreme length. Individuals obtained from eggs have been kept
in small sealed vials in this office for several months, remaining active
and sprightly in spite of the fact that they had never taken any nour-
ishment whatever.
Extraordinary stories are current of the remarkable intelligence of
this insect in circumventing various efforts to prevent its gaining access
to beds. Most of these are undoubtedly exaggerations, but the inher-
ited experience of many centuries of companionship with man, during
which the bedbug has always found its host an active enemy, has
resulted in a knowledge of the habits of the human animal and a facil-
ity of concealment, particularly as evidenced by its abandoning beds
and going often to distant quarters for protection and hiding during
daylight, which indicate considerable apparent inteliigence.
The bite of the bedbug is decidedly poisonous to some individuals,
resulting in a slight swelling and disagreeable inflammation. To such
persons the presence of bedbugs is sufficient to cause the greatest
uneasiness, if not to put sleep and rest entirely out of the question.
With others, however, who are less sensitive, the presence of the bugs
may not be recognized at all, and, except for the occasional staining of
the linen by a crushed individual, their presence might be entirely
overlooked. The inflammation experienced by sensitive persons seems
to result merely from the puncture of the skin by the sharp piercing
sete which constitute the puncturing element of the mouth parts, as
there seems to be no secretion of poison other than the natural fluids
of the mouth.
The biting organ of the bedbug is exactly like that of other hemip-
terous insects. It consists of a rather heavy, fleshy under lip (the only
part ordinarily seen in examining the insect), within which lie four
thread-like hard filaments or sete which glide over each other with
an alternating motion and pierce the flesh. The blood is drawn up
through the beak, which is closely applied to the point of puncture,
and the alternating motion of these setz in the flesh causes the biood
to flow more freely. The details of the structure of the beak areshown
in the accompanying sketch (fig. 7, d). Jn common with other insects
THE BEDBUG AND CONE-NOSE. ah (L
which attack men. it is entirely possible for these pests to be transmit-
ters of contagious diseases.
Like its allies, the bedbug undergoes an incomplete metamorphosis,
the young being very similar to their parents in appearance, structure,
and in habit. The eggs are white oval objects, having a little project-
ing rim around one edge, and are laid in batches of from one-half dozen
to fifty in cracks and crevices where the bugs go for concealment. The
egos hatch in a week or ten days, and the young escape by pushing
the lid within the projecting rim from the shell. At first they are yel-
lowish white, nearly transparent, the brown color of the more mature
insect inereasing with the later molts. During the course of develop-
ment the skin is shed five times, and with the last molt the minute
wing pads characteristic of the adult insect make their appearance.
A period of about eleven weeks has been supposed to be necessary
for the complete maturity of this insect, but we have found this period
subject to great variation, depending on warmth and food supply.
Breeding experiments conducted at this office indicate, under most
favorable conditions, a period averaging eight days between moltings
and between the laying of the eggs and their hatching, giving about
seven weeks as the period from egg to adult insect. Some individuals
under the same conditions will, however, remain two to three weeks
between moltings, and without food as already shown they may
remain unchanged for an indefinite time. Ordinarily but one meal is
taken between molts, so that each bedbug must puncture its host
five times before becoming mature and at least once afterwards before
it again develops eggs. They are said to lay several batches of eggs
during the season, and are extremely prolific, as occasionally realized
by the housekeeper, to her chagrin and embarrassment.
REMEDIES.
The bedbug, on account of its habits of concealment, is usually
beyond the reach of powders, and the ordinary insect powders, such
as pyrethrum, are of practically no avail against it. If iron or brass
bedsteads are used the eradication of the insect is comparatively easy.
With large wooden bedsteads, furnishing many cracks and crevices
into which the bugs can force their flat, thin bodies, their extermina-
tion becomes a matter of considerable difficulty. The most practical
way to effect this end is by very liberal applications of benzine or
kerosene or any other of the petroleum oils. These must be introduced
into all crevices with small brushes or feathers, or by injecting with
small syringes. Corrosive sublimate is also of value, and oil of tur-
pentine may be used in the same way. The liberal use of hot water
wherever if may be employed without danger to furniture, etc., is also
an effectual method of destroying both eggs and active bugs. Various
bedbug remedies and mixtures are for sale, most of them containing
one or the other of the ingredients mentioned, and they are frequently
38 PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS,
of value. The great desideratum, however, in a case of this kind, is 4
daily inspection of beds and bedding and of all crevices and locations
about the premises where these vermin may have gone for conceal-
ment. TS PN Bs N
experiments were made in as! ioe} Yas 7X
this office during the summer
of 1895, and it was unexpect-
edly found that the house fly
is a difficult insect to rear in
confinement. Buzzing about
everywhere, and apparently
living with ease under the
most adverse conditions, itis
nevertheless, when confined
in the warm season of the
year to a small receptacle,
not at all tenacious of life.
It results from this fact, for
example, that it is almost a
impossible to ascertain the ~ 4 ee
length of the life of the house OO
fly in the adult condition. Fic. 14._Musca domestica: a, full-grown larva; b, one of
On June 26a small quantity its anterior spiracles; c, side view of head; d, hind end
of fresh horse manure was of body showing anal spiracles; e, side view of head;
- ais f, head from above; g, head of young larva from above;
exposed lh afly-infested room h, eggs—all enlarged (original).
for a few minutes. The flies
deposited their eggs freely and immediately in this substance.! At the
same time the specimens were confined in,a glass dish 7.5 inches in diam-
eterand 3 inchesin height. In this dish was a layer of moist sand, cov-
ered with a layer of fresh horse manure, and the vessel was covered with
a piece of gauze. On the following morning all the flies, twenty-four in
number, were dead, and not a single egg had been laid. A fresh sup-
ply of flies was introduced into the same vessel, and the next morning all
were dead and no eggs had been laid. The cover was now removed from
this vessel and the latter placed in a glass cylinder 14 inches high, the
1The experiments which follow were conducted by Mr. D. W. Coquillett.
46 PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS.
top of which was covered with gauze, and twenty flies introduced.
This was at noon; by 4 o’clock in the afternoon no eggs could be found,
but at 9 o’clock the next morning two clusters of eggshells, one cluster
containing 26 and the other 45 eggs, were found. The eggs had been
deposited in small cavities between the sides of the vessel and the
manure, at a depth of about a quarter of an inch below the surface,
but were not arranged in any regular order. Afterwards several black-
berries, cherries, and partly decayed apples were placed in this vessel,
and more fhes were introduced.