INSECT PESTS OF CIGAR-TYPE TOBACCOS US 
GENERAL CONTROL RECOMMENDATIONS 
Plant beds should be tightly covered with cloth to prevent the 
entrance of moths. In this way the number of eggs and larvae 
introduced into the fields will be held to a minimum. 
The plants left in the beds should be thoroughly destroyed as soon 
as the beds are abandoned. If allowed to grow throughout the season, 
they serve as excellent breeding places for the budworm and other 
insect pests. 
Where tobacco is grown under cheesecloth, preventive measures 
against the budworms may be practiced with great success. The 
walls and top of the canopy should be kept intact as far as possible. 
Cloth-covered gates (fig. 18), which are provided to admit workmen 
and implements, should be kept closed as much as possible. 
FIGURE 18.—Cloth-covered gateway to a tobacco shade field. Close-fitting gates 
of this or similar types prevent the entrance of a considerable number of 
insect pests. 
When the tobacco stalks are topped, the portions of the plants 
removed are frequently infested with eggs and larvae of the bud- 
worm. ‘These infested tops should not be thrown on the ground in 
the tobacco row, as many of the larvae may crawl up the stalks and 
reinfest the foliage. They should be placed in sacks, taken outside 
the field, and destroyed. 
The plowing of tobacco fields in the fall or early winter months 
undoubtedly results in the destruction of many budworm pupae in 
the soil, thereby reducing the number of moths waiting to emerge 
the following spring. 
Destruction of the tobacco stalks immediately after harvesting 
the crop (fig. 19) will reduce the number of overwintering budworms 
by removing the food supply of late-maturing individuals. This 
practice is also very beneficial in connection with control measures 
against the hornworm and the flea beetle. 
