Our household insects : an account of the insect-pests found in dwelling-houses / by Edward A. Butler.

  • Butler, Edward A. (Edward Albert), 1845-
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Our household insects : an account of the insect-pests found in dwelling-houses / by Edward A. Butler. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    We will turn our attention first to that order which is usually placed at the head of the class, viz., the Coleoptera, or Beetles. Of these, a considerable variety make our houses their foraging quarters, and one of the most important sec- tions is that of the “ Wood-borers.” These often commit great depredations in the beams and other woodwork used in the framework of houses, as well as in articles of furniture, producing the result known as “ worm- eaten.” Formerly, their ravages were more considerable than at the present day, owing to the then more exten- sive use of timber (and especially unpainted timber) in building construction. The external indications of the presence of these destructive insects are usually twofold : small circular perforations in the surface of the wood, and little heaps of yellow dust on the ground beneath them. The perforations are the entrances to, or rather exits from, long cylindrical tunnels traversing the wood in various directions, generally in that of its length, and often to so great an extent as to leave only the narrowest of partitions between them, and so reduce the whole interior to a mere network, which is so fragile as to crumble away on the slightest touch, while the outside still remains intact, except for the few perforations, and gives the wood the appearance of being almost as sound as when first put up. The beetles themselves are not so often seen, as they spend a large proportion of their life in their burrows. Their ravages are similar in result to those of the shipworm upon submerged timber, though the latter animal belongs to the Mollusca, and is a relative of such animals as the mussel, oyster, &c. Several species of beetles are answerable for these damages; the commonest is a small cylindrical insect
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