Bookworm

Do you have a favorite bookworm? We do! And our book-lover is sure to interest just about any bibliophile.

Children, parents and educators will enjoy using these educational plush toys to teach about hygiene, disease and the human body. Each microbe comes with a description of the disease it causes or function it performs. Use these fun, non-threatening toys to emphasize the importance of washing hands and preventing sickness in social settings.

Lots of microorganisms like to curl up with a good book-and eat it. Silverfish and booklice are some of the more commonly encountered specimens, not to mention termites, moths, cockroaches, carpet beetles, biscuit beetles, drugstore beetles, powder-post beetles, spider beetles, larder beetles, death-watch beetles and a host of others. However, Anobium punctatum is the classic bookworm primarily responsible for tunneling holes through the pages of old codices and manuscripts. (A. punctatum also works a day job as the common furniture beetle, which is where it is more often encountered today.)

It is the larvae of A. punctatum that is actually the bibliophage. It spends up to five years devouring pulpy leaves of fact and fiction. It then pupates, undergoes a metamorphosis, spreads its wings, and flies away.