FARMERS BULLETIN 846. 



Flu. 1. — Chewing tobacco injured by the tobacco beetle (Lasioderma serricorne.) 

 CHARACTER OF INJURY. 



Injury by the tobacco beetle is almost entirely the work of the 

 larvae, or young. The adults, or beetles, do not seem to injure to- 

 bacco directly in any way except when burrowing out after trans- 

 forming from the pupa or resting stage. 



This insect damages cigars and pressed tobacco by eating out or 

 burrowing small cylindrical tunnels and leaving them filled with a 

 mass of dust and excrement. In cigars the holes sometimes extend 

 straight through from one side to the other ; in other instances they 

 wind about through the filler of the cigar so that a large part of the 

 interior is destroyed without much evidence of injury showing on the 

 wrapper. The larvre often work between two closely packed cigars, 

 .slitting the wrapper lengthwise for some distance. In a box or 

 package a single larva may injure several cigars. The pupal cells 

 frequently show between closely pressed cigars or on the edge of the 

 band. Dust and refuse from feeding collect in the bottom of the box 

 and betAveen the cigars. Injured cigars do not draw well and burn 

 unevenly, and dust is drawn into the mouth of the smoker. 



In cigarettes holes are bored through the wrappers and frequently 

 through the cork tips. The interior of the cigarette is filled with 

 refuse, and the wrapper becomes soiled and discolored. Injury is 

 more likely to occur in cigarettes made from the sweeter, milder types 

 of leaf, such as are used in the more expensive grades. Fine Turkish 

 tobaccos are especially liable to infestation. 



