68 : JOURNAL OF THE 



THE CIGARETTE BEETLE. 

 {Lasioderma serricorne, Fab.) 



By G. F. ATKINSON. 



This beetle sometimes proves very troublesome to manufacturers 

 and dealers in cigarettes and smoking tobacco. While it feeds 

 upon, and breeds in, dry tobacco in almost any form, it seems to 

 have a preference for cigarettes. 



Several years ago it proved very annoying in some warehouses in 

 Philadelphia. I learn from Prof. C. V. Riley, of Washington, that 

 it has also caused a great deal of trouble in warehouses in Balti- 

 more; that it is pretty generally distributed in all parts of the 

 world, and feeds with relish upon cayenne pepper, spices and nearly 

 all pungent substances. It has also been reported as a ' ' drugstore 

 pest," feeding on capsicum.^ 



After the pest has once taken up its abode in a factory there are 

 several means by which it may find its way into the manufactured 

 goods. It may be present in the leaf tobacco. When this is not 

 thoroughly steamed preparatory to " trimming " and " cutting,'' the 

 young larvae or eggs may pass through the process of manufacture 

 unharmed, and be stored with the goods. During the process of 

 drying the tobacco and making the cigarettes the female may de- 

 posit the eggs on the tobacco which remains unprotected during the 

 night. Even after the cigarettes are manufactured and stored the 

 beetle can enter the boxes and deposit the eggs, as the boxes are 

 usually rude in structure with openings sufficiently large to permit 

 her entrance. 



Once in the cigarette the larva feeds until full grown, when it 

 usually leaves the cigarette to seek a place to pupate. In doing this 

 it more frequently cuts through the paper wrapper, thus perforating 

 the cigarette and destroying the "draught." 



During the present year my attention was called to the injuries of 

 this insect, and as its natural history has not been fully worked out 

 I undertook investigations leading to its determination. 



^American Entomologist, Vol. I, p. 99 and 147. 



