Hardwicke's science-gossip : an illustrated medium of interchange and gossip for students and lovers of nature . ne. Folkestone. Hy. Ullyett. WHAT IS DERMESTES? A T the December meeting of the Quekett Micro--^*- scopical Club, a question was asked, Whatis the insect called Dermestes, the hairs of thelarva of which are employed as test-objects ?During the discussion which ensued, the figure inScience Gossip (vol. i., p. 230) was alluded to asbeing that of the larva intended. The followingobservations may tend to elucidate the subject:— The Dcrmestidae are a small family of Necro-phagous Beetles
Hardwicke's science-gossip : an illustrated medium of interchange and gossip for students and lovers of nature . ne. Folkestone. Hy. Ullyett. WHAT IS DERMESTES? A T the December meeting of the Quekett Micro--^*- scopical Club, a question was asked, Whatis the insect called Dermestes, the hairs of thelarva of which are employed as test-objects ?During the discussion which ensued, the figure inScience Gossip (vol. i., p. 230) was alluded to asbeing that of the larva intended. The followingobservations may tend to elucidate the subject:— The Dcrmestidae are a small family of Necro-phagous Beetles, of which six genera, containingfifteen species, are recorded in Great Britain. Thisnumber may be reduced for our purpose to elevenspecies, the other four being doubtful or disputednatives. Of the foregoing, four species, includingthe Bacon Beetle, belong to the genus Dermestes. In this genus the larvae are not possessed of thepeculiar tail and tufts of hairs believed to be foundon the larvae used for microscopical purposes. Thisreduces the number to seven, amongst which thedesired insect is to be Fig-. 11. Larva of Bacon-beetle. In the genus Attagenus, Latreille informs us, thelarva is long, of a reddish brown colour, and shining,clothed with hairs, those at the extremity of thebody forming a tail. Its motions are very irregular,creeping along by fits and starts. In the genus Megatoma, Professor Westwoodstates that in the larva the extremity of the body isfurnished with two bundles of hairs, which it ex-pands like a fan, and to which it imparts a tremulousmotion, so rapid as scarcely to allow the fans ofhair to be perceived while it lasts. In Tiresias the larva is of an elongate, ovate,and depressed form, narrowed towards the tail, and,covered with long brown hairs, the terminal seg-ment of the body being also furnished with a longbrush of hair, and destitute of the two spines
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