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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 14

The Corn Beetle. Trogosita mauritanica. Linn

page 53

The Corn Beetle. Trogosita mauritanica. Linn.

Fig. XV.

Fig. XV.

1, Perfect beetle, mag.; 2, nat. length; 3, larva mag.; 4, nat. length of larva.

This is another grain boring insect, and belongs to the family Tenebrionidœ. Curtis says it was introduced from Africa, and that it is abundant in America, and in many European countries. In France it is called the Cadelle and Olivier alludes to it as doing great harm to housed grain in the south of France. It is of the same family as thé meal worm and the worm which eats ship's biscuits. It is found in granaries and warehouses, and its larvæ sometimes greatly damage corn and other produce by biting the cuticle or skin, as it would seem in mere wanton mischief. At first sight it appears as if the corn lying in heaps had been nibbled by mice, but on close inspection the bran flakes are smaller, and bitten off differently. Sometimes when corn has been lying long, the quantity of bran which comes from the heap is surprising.