198 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 3 



NOTES ON "CIGARETTE BEETLE" 



By P. H. Hertzog. Ijeicishurg, Pa. 



Perhaps the name cigarette beetle carries a wrong meaning to the 

 average tobacco dealer and layman, as the name may suggest that 

 the insect is associated only with cigarbttes. Hence some tobacco 

 dealers pay very little attention to it, inasmuch as they have no 

 cigarettes. But since leaf tobacco suffers the greatest loss, it would 

 be more appropriate to call it ' ' tobacco beetle. ' ' 



Although the insect has been found feeding in various drugs and 

 food, the fact remains that in this country, it is most conspicuous on 

 account of the great injury and destruction to all forms of cured 

 tobacco, such as leaf tobacco as well as manufactured tobacco in the 

 shape of plug, snuff", cigarettes and cigars. 



The beetle is less than one tenth of an inch long. Its color is 

 brown and on that account it is not readily seen while on tobacco. 

 The injury is mostly done by the larvae which are worm-like grubs. 

 But also adult beetles harm tobacco by eating their way out, thus 

 leaving a hole about the size of a pin head. In case of cigars the 

 eggs are usually wrapped in along with the tobacco while the cigars 

 are being made. The egg then hatches in about ten days. Then the 

 young larvEB eat through the tobacco including the wrapper. They 

 often follow the veins of the leaf. One grub may thus make a number 

 of perforations in its meandering course. 



Several packers have declared to the writer that the insects can 

 tell the difference between a good and an inferior quality of tobacco, 

 and that they invariably choose to work in a good quality, such as 

 expensive wrappers. Of course, this must be considered as a matter 

 of chance and then, too, their work is sooner discovered in such 

 tobacco. 



The tobacco dealer has to consider it as a serious pest, however. 

 Its presence in his establishment may mean thousands of dollars' loss 

 and in addition may injure his trade, which is, perhaps, even a greater 

 loss. Therefore, it is to his interest as well as to the tobacco industry 

 that his place and other houses nearby should be as free from the pest 

 as' possible. It must be remembered that the beetle is a most rapid 

 breeder under favorable circumstances, and that it is found in all 

 states in the Union, wherever tobacco is handled or stored. During 

 the past summer it was unusually abundant. The Bureau of Ento- 

 mology of Washington, D. C, has received more inquiries this season 

 from various sections than it has for some time. The above bureau 



