THE TOBACCO BEETLE. 9 



came from other sections of the country where the same class of 

 goods was shipped. In another instance a firm manufacturing high- 

 grade cigars some years ago organized a separate department in 

 which scrap tobacco was worked up into cheaper cigars. At first 

 this department showed an annual profit of about $7,000. The 

 beetle, however, finally became so destructive to this class of goods, 

 and so many shipments were returned to. the factory, that this 

 branch of the business was discontinued. 



The extent of injury to baled domestic tobacco can not be accu- 

 rately determined until the tobacco is finally used, and, as with other 

 classes of tobacco, it is difficult or impossible to obtain even an 

 approximate estimate of the total loss. 



In wholesale and retail drug stores the insect frequently becomes 

 a serious pest and causes heavy loss by consuming or by making 

 unsalable more expensive products. 



DISTRIBUTION AND DISSEMINATION. 



Commerce has served to distribute the tobacco beetle widely and 

 it probably now occurs in all countries having a temperate, subtropi- 

 cal, or tropical climate. In warm tobacco-growing countries such as 

 Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines, where the beetles are numerous 

 and breed continuously throughout the year, they are being constantly 

 exported in shipments of cigars or bales of cigar tobacco. Examina- 

 tions of warehouses in which bales of infested cigar tobacco are 

 stored, at ports of entry in this country, have shown them at times to 

 be heavily infested with the beetle. 



There has been a very noticeable increase and spread of the tobacco 

 beetle in tobacco factories in the United States within comparatively 

 recent years. Experienced tobacco dealers and tobacco manufac- 

 turers attribute this to the general use of steam in heating factories. 

 The higher and uniform temperatures which are thus maintained 

 make breeding conditions more favorable. 



In tobacco factories and buildings in which tobacco products or 

 suitable food substances are stored the insect spreads by crawling or 

 by flight. The adult beetle is capable of flying for a considerable 

 distance. Beetles escaping from cars or ships in which bales or hogs- 

 heads of leaf tobacco are shipped find their way to suitable food 

 substances which then in turn become new centers of infestation and 

 dispersion. As the life cycle of the beetle is comparatively short in 

 warm weather, hogsheads of export leaf tobacco, slightly infested 

 when sent out, may become heavily infested en route and almost 

 worthless after a long sea voyage, the high temperature and moisture 

 in the hold of a vessel creating ideal conditions for reproduction. 



The insect is now so generally disseminated throughout the country 

 that it is a common occurrence to find it in show cases, storage rooms, 



