4 Household Pests and Their Treatment. 87 I A  
With aiknowledge of the habits of this insect extensive l . * i,  
losses need not be sustained. A free use of insect powder about   -l
shelves on which _b0oks are kept, the injection of coal-oil or    
creosote in timbers, an occasional use of bisulfid of carbon, are _f_  
all that is necessary to suppress them. Wooclen floors close to A
the ground are always in danger from them, and should be re- , - .
placed with concrete. The insect-is naturally an inhabitant of _·
Helds and woods, where it lives under logs and stones. A
Wliite ants are remarkable because of their social life, ~ _. °
colonies consisting of workers, males and females, which are _ t,
sterile; of sterile soldiers, males and females, which defend `· l   1
the colony; a very large queen who has discarded her wings; ,     A
a male who has discarded his wings; and, during the swarm- A   n Q
ing season, many winged males and females. An almost equally _   Q
remarkable feature of their economy is the presence in their  {  
A digestive tubes of swarms of singular microscopic Protozoa, `   {
which belong to a peculiar family ('I`richonymphidae) and are   i
so far as known not found elsewhere on the globe. Y    A
li. n
\— SILVER msu. ·   ’
Most of us havelseen at times a {iattish silvery insect that r   eV_· Q  
runs rapidly over books and papers, or walls. when molested, .j_      
and quickly conceals itself. lt is so extremely fragile and soft- A Ii; Ai ° A
bodied that a mere touch will destroy it, but so quick that it _  
1 generally escapes. Its scientific name is Lepisma sncchnrina, · ·  A  
— · and it has the reputation of lrcing fond of starches and sugars, _ A  
tho the writer has never observed it about either stored      
sugar or starch. 'l`l~`e assertion is often made, however. that it  
damages starched fabrics such as curtains and sometimes eats t ;}A  
the starch paste used on wall paper so as to render the latter l  
unsightly. Books are said to be damaged also, the insect being  
after the starch used by binders. it is thought. Some years ago  
at Tiesington these insects were found in great numbers under A  
the shingles on the sides of the upper story of a cottage from V  
i whichrretreat they invaded rooms, gnawed the wall paper and  
damaged the surfaces of photographic prints. Careful tests  
. made at the time indicated that they were not feeding 011 starch.  
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