UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
RECEIVED BY EXCHANGE
BIOLOGY Class
TECHNICAL '^EDUCATION SERIES, No. 8,
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.
TECHNICAL EDUCATION BRANCH. F. BBIDOBS, Superintendent.
TECHNOLOGICAL MUSEUM.
EEPOET
ON A
BEETLE DESTROYING BOOTS & SHOES
US' SYDNEY:
BY WALTER W. FROGGATT.
(With one plate.)
J. H. MAIDEN, F.L.S., &C., Curator.
SYDNEY :
GEORGE STEPHEN CHAPMAN, ACTING GOVERNMENT PRINTER.
5a* 24091
1891.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE,
LIFE HISTOET OF Anolium paniceum, LINN.
Fig. i. Perfect beetle (enlarged). Fig. ia. Jaws of beetle. Fig. iJ. Side
view of head of beetle.
Fig. ii. Larva when full grown.
Fig. iii. Pupa.
Fig. iv. Parasitic "Wasp (family Chalcididce) living on the pupa of Anolium.
All these specimens were taken out of infested boots, and drawn under
the microscope. The lines beside figures show the natural size.
.
REPORT ON A BEETLE DESTROYING BOOTS AND SHOES
IN A SYDNEY WAREHOUSE,
TO THE CUEATOB OF THE
TECHNOLOGICAL MUSEUM, SYDNEY,
Acting under your instructions, on the 7th October I
visited the warehouse reported to you, to obtain specimens and
all information about a beetle said to be infesting some trunks
of imported boots, and damaging the contents.
I examined five infested trunks of various qualities of boots
and shoes ; ordinary men's leather boots, ladies' kids, and carpet
slippers were all attacked in a similar manner.
The chief point of assault seems to be the soles, which
are often completely riddled with small transverse and vertical
burrows made by the larvae of these insects. Another favourite
place of abode is in the tips of the uppers, but some samples
showed signs of their handiwork everywhere.
They were first noticed in the sample bins, where the samples
used by the firm's travellers were kept when returned, and
were thought to have been introduced into the warehouse in
these boots, until further investigation showed that there were
infested trunks in other parts of the building.
As far as is yet known, all the damaged goods are of English
manufacture, none of those imported from continental houses
showing signs of these pests.
As the eggs and larvae of many beetles under normal sur-
roundings often take a considerable time to come to maturity,
it is quite possible that these came into the boot-trunks in the
egg or larval state, either in the finished leather or in some of
the material used in making up the boots, and since undisturbed
have there undergone their metamorphoses.
I obtained a large number of specimens of the beetles, the
active larvae, and the quiescent pupae, together with several
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specimens of a minute four- winged fly, a hyinenopterous insect,
belonging to the family Chalcididce, evidently parasitic upon the
pupa of the beetle.
Upon examination I found the beetle to be a member of the
family Ptinidce, coming in the genus Anobium, agreeing in all
particulars with Anobium paniceum, Linn., a common English
species.
All the Ptinidce are of small size, few exceeding of an inch
in length, and most of them are much smaller ; they have cylin-
drical bodies, with the head small and partially hidden under the
thorax ; they are widely dispersed over the temperate parts of
the world, and though many described species of allied genera
are described from Australia, none belonging to Anobium are
indigenous.
Over sixty species of Anobium are described from Europe
alone. They are so much alike in size and color, while the
older entomologists gave such brief descriptions of the earlier
described species, that it is a matter of great difficulty to satis-
factorily identify an introduced specimen without some type
specimens for reference.
This family contains some of the most destructive and omni-
vorous feeders among the beetle family. Many of them live in
wood, others frequent houses, where they attack dried skins,
wool, leather, &c. Anobium domesticum, Foure, is common in
the wood-work and furniture of old houses, where it is well
known under the popular name of the "death watch." Kirby, in
his " Text Book of Entomology," says that they are known to
eat leather, but I can find no record of them having attacked
manufactured leather in the wholesale manner that they have in
the present instance.
However, Anobium paniceum is recorded to have tried his
sharp little jaws upon almost everything. Curtis says he has
known it to eat and pupate in cayenne pepper, completely
destroying the contents of the tins, that it is a pest in drug-
stores, eating all kinds of dried roots, and that among ship-
5
owners it is well known for the ravages it commits in the ship
biscuits, eating and breeding in them until they are utterly
destroyed.
He also says that he has been informed that they were very
plentiful in the roof of King's College Chapel, Cambridge,
where they were reported to have eaten through the sheet lead.
In 1884 a very similar pest appeared in great numbers in the
boot and shoe warehouses in St. Louis, United States of America.
It attacked the boots in a very similar manner to our " leather
beetle," and not only made its way into the warehouses, but
also invaded the factories. They were locally known as " the dry
hide beetle." This beetle is a much larger insect, belonging to
the family Dermettida. Professor "Riley investigated the matter,
and identified it as the " Toothed Dermestes," Dermestes
vulpinus. (See the Entomologist's Report in the Annual Report
of the United States Department of Agriculture, 1885.)
This beetle has a world-wide distribution. D. vulpinus and
several other species are common in Australia, where they
do a good deal of damage among flour, dried bacon and ham,
while every year an immense number of sheepskins are destroyed
by this weevil getting into them.
REMEDIES. "Where the Anobium has infested the trunks it
would be best to put them in a tight chamber ; the boots should
be turned out of the boxes into a malt tank or other receptacle,
and treated with bisulphide of carbon, kept in such a tight
chamber so that the fumes of the carbon could not escape too
rapidly, all larvae and beetles would be destroyed. The boxes
should be burnt, or treated in the same manner, as they are
sure to have eggs all over them, and if the eggs are left behind
the pest will be sure to appear sooner or later, and the work
will have to be done over again.
Care should be taken in the warehouse that all rubbish and
waste is cleared out, and where the place is infested all such
rubbish should be carefully burnt.
6
Frequent examinations of the stock should be made if there
is any sign of the beetles, for it is much easier to nip the pest
in the bud than let it get a footing in the place. Notice should
be sent to the factories from which the boots and shoes are
imported, calling their attention to the existence of the insect
in their goods, and with proper precautions on both sides the
pest ought to be soon stamped out.
I desire to call attention to the fact that prompt measures
should be taken to treat all trunks infested, for if these insects
are allowed to breed in the cases, they are sure to creep out,
lay their eggs in all parts, and get into the whole stock.
DESCEIPTION. Anobium paniceum, Linn. The largest speci-
mens (females) are of an inch in length, but many of the
smaller (males) do not exceed ^ of an inch.
Head, thorax, and elytra pitch brown, the under-side of the
body, legs, and elytra covered with short pale-yellow hairs
which are very dense on the under -side. Antennae inserted close
to the eyes, which are black and very prominent ; 11-jointed ;
1st, thick subovate ; 2nd, shorter conical ; 3-8, very small ovate ;
9-10, larger elongate, broadest at apex ; llth, elongate oval ; the
last three joints as long as the rest of antennae. Head generally
hidden under the thorax, jaws strong and armed with four
obtuse teeth. Thorax broad, rounded in front, finely punctured.
Elytra broad, rounded, marked with irregular punctured striae.
Legs robust, slightly swollen ; tarsi, five-jointed.
Larva. Soft cylindrical fleshy grub, with a scaly head, and
the last joint of the abdomen large, not furnished with any
appendage, and curved under the body. The jaws are strong
and armed with four obtuse teeth.
"When full grown the larvae construct a cocoon of soft silky
substance, mixed with the material upon which they have been
feeding, and pupate at the end of their burrows.
WALTEE W. FEOGQATT,
14/10/91,
Technological Museum, Sydney.
Nat. size
Fig. ii.
Fig.iii
Nat. size
Fig. iv
Fig. ia.
Fig. ib.
Fig. iia.
LIFE HISTORY OF ANOBIUM PANIGEUM.Lin.
Fig.i Perfect beetle (enlarged) Fig. ii. Larva
Ficf.iii. Pupa. Fig. ia Jawsof beetle Fig. jj a Jaws of larva
Fi 9 . iv. Parasitic Wasp(Fam. CHALCIDID*) living onthe pup* of Anobium
Fig. ib Side view of head of beetle
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