﻿BULLETIN OF THE 



ii 



No. 15 



Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology, L. O. Howard, Chief. 

 October 16, 1913. 



A SEALED PAPER CARTON TO PROTECT CEREALS 

 FROM INSECT ATTACK. 



By William B. Parker, Entomological Assistant. 

 ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THE PROBLEM. 



During an investigation of the insects attacking dried fruits at 

 Sacramento, Cal., during 1912, the infested condition of packed 

 cereals was brought to the writer's attention. The economic impor- 

 tance of these infestations is greater than at first appears. The pur- 

 chaser usually returns infested packages to the grocer. The grocer 

 returns them to the mill where they were prepared. The mill screens 

 the cereal and sells it as feed. Thus the condition of the cereal itself 

 is the cause of a disagreeable feeling on the part of the consumer and 

 occasions a loss of time to the grocer and a considerable loss finan- 

 cially to the miller. 



Besides this intrinsic loss, the consumer may demand of the grocer 

 another "brand" in the hope of finding a cereal which is not infested 

 by insects, or, by jumping to the sudden conclusion that all cereals 

 are infested during the summer, may forego the use of breakfast 

 foods for a time. The exact financial loss due to these conditions 

 can not be accurately determined, but extensive observations lead 

 • to the belief that it is much greater than most millers suppose. 



PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 



Examinations of infested packages taken in grocery stores, ware- 

 houses, and mills showed that the majority of infestations com- 

 menced at the ends of these packages, or where a small hole had been 

 broken in the edge, due to rough handling. The cereal in these pack- 

 ages was sterilized prior to being packed, so that the insects which 

 caused the infestation must have deposited their eggs after, or shortly 

 before, the cereal was packed. The presence of the confused flour 

 beetle (Tribolium confusum Duv.) inside of the ends and the presence 



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