Professor John Stanley of McGill University recently asked the National Research Council for assistance in specifying the colors of flour beetles (Tribolium). These insem are small (3 or 4 mm. long), rounded, dark, and shiny, and therefore present a somewhat unusual colorimetric problem. It is felt that the solution of this problem may be of some general interest.
The small size of the specimens seemed to preclude physical methods of colorimetry. It was felt that the most likely visual method would be direct comparison with Munsell papers or other standard colored surfaces. The difficulty with this was the very different appearance of the smooth, flat paper and the shiny. rounded beetle.