THE TOBACCO BEETLE is a reddish-yellow or brownish-red 

 beetle, about one-tenth of an inch long, the larva of which 

 attacks cured tobacco and tobacco products, riddling them with 

 its tunnels and rendering them unfit for use. It is found in 

 practically all countries and occurs wherever large quantities of 

 leaf or manufactured tobacco are handled or stored. It does 

 not attack growing tobacco. 



The more important methods of preventing losses from the 

 tobacco beetle may be summarized as follows: 



Scrupulous cleanliness in the factory or wholesale or retail 

 establishment, including the prompt destruction or treatment 

 of all refuse material, damaged stock, etc., in which the beetles 

 may breed. 



Screening or otherwise protecting the finished product from 

 infestation. 



Constructing or refitting packing or storage rooms, especially 

 in warm localities, so that they will be free from hiding places 

 for the beetles and can be cleaned quickly and easih', and so 

 that beetles which may be present in other parts of the building 

 will be excluded. 



Among destructive agencies which may be employed in con- 

 trol of the insect are: 



Freezing. (Treatment by cold storage or, in cold climates, 

 by exposure to low temperatures.) 



High temperatures or steam. (A temperature of from 125° 

 lo 140° F. continued for several hours, or 1.50° for a short time, 

 kills all stages of the insect.) 



Trapping or destruction by mechanical means. 



Fumigation with carbon disulphid or hydrocyanic-acid gas. 



The modern practice of storing leaf tobacco in hogsheads in 

 specially constructed buildings or sheds, giving practically out- 

 of-door conditions and variations of temperature, furnishes, in 

 cool climates, an efTective means of reducing or preventing 

 injury to the classes of leaf tobacco which may be stored in 

 this manner. 



