- Title
- Two dermestid pests of hides and skins in South Africa
- Creator
- Walker, J D
- Subject
- Dermestidae
- Subject
- Hides and skins
- Subject
- Insect pests Control
- Subject
- Dermestes oblongus
- Subject
- Dermestidae Anatomy
- Date
- 1941
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/193702
- Identifier
- vital:45387
- Description
- Only two species of Coleoptera have so far been taken in numbers and identified with certainty as causing extensive damage to hides and skins in South Africa. These are Dermestes vulpinus F. and Dermestes oblongus Solier. belonging to the family Dermestidae. Dermestes vulpinus is apparently worldwide in distribution and its ravages are very extensive. It has a considerable range of diet, as it has been reported as doing damage to silkworm cocoons, dried codfish, hams, cork, and even leather as a finished product. Both the adults and the larvae are responsible for the damage, but the latter are the bigger culprits, both because they are more voracious and also because in the prepupal instar the larvae will riddle any available material in order to obtain a secure place in which to pupate. Even the fabric of buildings and ships is destroyed by these creatures. The damage which is most important economically, however, is done to hides and skins of every kind. The Dermestidae are well adapted to this diet in the possession of an enzyme (keratinase) which is capable of digesting keratin. This is extremely rare in the animal kingdom.
- Description
- Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, 1941
- Format
- computer, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (120 pages), pdf
- Publisher
- Rhodes University College
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Walker, J D
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike" License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/)
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | WALKER-MSC-TR83-49.pdf | 3 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |