[Illustration: Fig. 3.--Feathers damaged by fabric pests. Injury has been done here by clothes moths and carpet beetles. They reduce feathers to a mat-like mass.] In Europe the insect is not especially noted as a household pest, probably owing to the fact that carpets are seldom tacked down. In fact, the writer believes that only where carpets are extensively used in this way are the conditions favorable for the great increase of this insect. Carpets once tacked down are seldom taken up for a year, and in the meantime the insect develops uninterruptedly. With the more general use of polished floors, and rugs which are often taken up and beaten, there is little doubt that the "buffalo bug" will eventually cease to be a household insect of importance. The insect is known in Europe as infesting museums, but has not acquired this habit to any great extent in this country. It is known to have this habit in Cambridge, Mass., and Detroit, Mich., as well as in San Francisco, Calif., but not in other localities. In each of these three cases it was imported from Europe in insect collections. THE BLACK CARPET BEETLE.[5] [5] _Attagenus piceus_ Oliv. The black carpet beetle derives its common name from the black, unadorned color of the adult. Its larva is reddish or golden brown, long and slender, with a characteristic tuft of long hairs at the end of its body. It curls up and "plays 'possum" when disturbed. A glance at Figure 5 will be sufficient for the identification of this unique carpet-beetle larva. [Illustration: Fig. 4.--Black carpet beetle: Dorsal view of adult beetle. Greatly enlarged.] Widespread in Europe and Asia, it first attracted attention in America in 1854. Since then it has become widely distributed throughout the United States, often being the most injurious of the carpet beetles, especially in the more southern States. It is the carpet beetle most commonly referred by housewives to the department for identification. It feeds upon household fabrics of wool, feathers, fur, hair, and silk, and also upon cereals and cereal products, seeds, and dried animal remains, hence has many opportunities for existence in warehouses and barns as well as in houses. =The adult.=--The adult of the black carpet beetle is small, oval, and black, as shown in Figure 4. The adults are present in abundance only during the early summer. In a steam-heated building at Washington, D. C, large numbers of adults were present late in April and during May, but became rather scarce during the first part of June, although single adults were found as late as early in July. The adult flies readily and is often seen crawling on window panes and screens. It is during the adult stage that the black carpet beetle spreads most easily from house to house.