A PEST OF CURED TOBACCO, EPHESTIA ELUTELLA HUBNER 3 

 RECORDS OF INFESTATION IN TOBACCO 



Ephestia elutella was recorded as a pest of cured tobacco in Russia 

 in 1915 (9, p. 7). In a weekly circular issued by the tobacco section 

 of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce 2 September 9, 

 1930, attention was called to the appearance of the larvae of E. elutella 

 in stocks of tobacco held in bond in one of the London warehouses, 

 where it was feared that the work of the larvae would cause the value 

 of the tobacco to depreciate materially. This London infestation 

 occurred in tobacco imported from Rhodesia, Africa. 



Mokrzecki (8) published in 1931 a bulletin in Polish on the life his- 

 tory and control of Ephestia elutella in the tobacco warehouses of 

 Poland. The following information regarding the occurrence of this 

 insect is quoted from the German resume of this paper as translated 

 for the present writers: 



The author has inspected the damage done by the larvae of Ephestia elutella in 

 Simferopol and Yalta (Crimea) during the years 1909-1917 and described its biol- 

 ogy in general terms. He furthermore had this pest under observation in the 

 storage buildings in Sukhum (Caucasus, 1911) and in storage at Philippopol 

 (Bulgaria), 1921. * * * 



The larva has been imported into Poland with bales of tobacco leaves purchased 

 in Bulgaria and Greece, and Ephestia elutella is found at the present in the tobacco 

 storage houses of Poland. 



The author had an opportunity in 1929 and 1930 to inspect about 20 tobacco 

 factories and storehouses in Poland, and to convince himself that the main infes- 

 tations of tobacco came from Bulgaria and to a lesser extent from Greece and other 

 countries, and that these importations were more or less infested with larvae of 

 Ephestia elutella. 



Bovingdon (2) recorded in the August 1, 1931, issue of the British 

 trade journal Tobacco the appearance of the moth Ephestia elutellam. 

 stores of tobacco in England, Bulgaria, Russia, and the United States. 



Jack (6) published in January, 1932, an account of the appearance 

 of Ephestia elutella in stocks of tobacco in Salisbury, Southern Rho- 

 desia. He stated that up to that time it had not been found in 

 Rhodesia anywhere except in Salisbury. He also stated that the moth 

 had been found infesting tobacco in Bulgaria in 1928. 



ECONOMIC HISTORY 



Ephestia elutella has been recorded as attacking many dried vege- 

 table products and has been carried in these products by commerce to 

 all parts of the world. Reaumur {11, p. 275-277) in 1737 gave an 

 account of a moth that injured chocolate, and it is conceded that he 

 referred to Ephestia elutella. Chittenden (3, p. 9) said that the habits 

 of the moth had been known in Europe since early in the seventeenth 

 century but that American records showed nothing positive regarding 

 injuries by the species. Maskew (7) published an account of the 

 appearance of E. elutella in a shipment of walnuts imported at San 

 Francisco, Calif., from Manchuria, and regarded it as a serious pest of 

 walnuts. De Ong (4) reported: " Large shipments of peanuts infested 

 with the currant moth, Ephestia elutella Hiibner, were repeatedly 

 received at the San Francisco port from China during the fal] of 1924." 

 Munro and Thomson (10, p. 22) reported this moth to be the most 



2 United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, 

 Tobacco Division, the tobacco situation in south africa and southern rhodesia. U. S. Dept. 

 Com., Bur. Foreign and Dom. Com,, Tobacco Div. Tobacco Markets and Conditions Abroad no. 270, 

 p. 5-7. 1930. [Multigraphed.] 



