The Hephaestus Plague: Thomas Page

They came from the darkness of the bowels of the earth...a new species of beetle which needed to destroy in order to survive...the first creature other than Man with the ability to create fire. The beetles ate carbon - they lived on the charred remains of buildings and sometimes people. There is no insecticide or natural predator than can kill them and it seems a new species will inherit the earth. But then Professor James Parmiter discovers a method of destruction but for reasons of his own, refuses to use it...