7 CIRCULAR No. 462 FEBRUARY 1938 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 



LOW TEMPERATURE AS A POSSIBLE MEANS OF 



CONTROLLING THE CIGARETTE BEETLE 



IN STORED TOBACCO 



By M. 



C. Swingle, associate entomologist, Division of Control Investigations, 

 Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine 1 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 1 



Obtaining stocks of the insect for the experi- 

 ments 2 



Effect of low temperatures on the insect 2 



Methods used in the experiments 2 



The results.. 3 



Page 

 Hate of cooling of bales and hogsheads of to- 

 bacco 5 



Treatment of infested bales 7 



Summary _^ 8 



INTRODUCTION 



The cigarette beetle (Lasioderma serricorne F.) is an important 

 pest of cured tobacco, causing severe damage to unmanufactured 

 tobacco as well as to manufactured tobacco products, such as cigars 

 and cigarettes. The feeding by the larvae makes the leaves unfit 

 for manufacturing purposes and the cigars unsalable. Then, too, 

 although responsible for little actual damage, the presence of the 

 other stages of the beetle in the product is objectionable. 



The most common method of control at present is fumigation, 

 which is applied either in tight rooms at atmospheric pressures or in 

 chambers under partial vacuum. The latter method gives very good 

 results but requires a great deal of labor in moving the stock to and 

 from the f umatorium. In an effort to simplify the problem of con- 

 trol, some form of cold storage was suggested as a possible means of 

 combining storage with the control of insects. It is doubtful if 

 much of the huge stock of tobacco now held in storage could economi- 

 cally be held under refrigeration. It is possible, however, that some 

 of the more expensive grades could be so stored, or that small-scale 

 manufacturers could use the method to hold their working stock free 

 from insect infestation. 



1 The cooperation afforded by W. D. Reed and E. M. Livingstone, of the Richmond. Va., 

 laboratory of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, is gratefully acknowl- 

 edged. Further acknowledgment is made to the Bureau of Plant Industry of the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture for the use of the cold-storage facilities* at Arlington 

 Experiment Farm, to the Merchants Ice & Storage Co. of Richmond, Va.. for furnishing 

 space in their cold-storage plant, and to the P. Lorillard Co. and the American Tobacco 

 Co. of Richmond for the loan of the tobacco used in the experiments. 



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