CONTROL OF INSECTS ATTACKING STORED TOBACCO 15 



adult females lay their eggs on the tobacco exposed in cracks between 

 the staves or on the case itself. When the eggs hatch the tiny larvae 

 crawl inside and begin to feed. Tobacco for export, redried during 

 August and September and held for a week or more in infested storage 

 rooms, is certain to contain some infestation when placed on shipboard 

 unless it is fumigated prior to being loaded on the ship. In its early 

 stages infestation in new-crop tobaccos is not easily detected, and the 

 only insurance against such infestation is careful handling and prompt 

 shipment of redried tobacco or fumigation just before loading in holds 

 of the ship. 



In like manner, flue-cured tobacco redried during the warm months 

 and placed in domestic storage where insect infestations are present 

 is likely to be infested during the same season. Storages that have 

 been practically freed of insects by fumigation may be rapidly rein- 

 fested by the movement into them of tobaccos that are infested by the 

 cigarette beetle and the tobacco moth. 



Imported Cigarette Tobaccos 



A survey of the distribution of tobacco insects in Greece and Turkey 

 was made in 1933 by the senior author, and the results showed that 

 both the tobacco moth and the cigarette beetle are distributed through- 

 out these countries. The insects were found in warehouses, in planters' 

 houses and curing yards, and in small village warehouses, tobacco moth 

 infestation being found more prevalent than that of the cigarette 

 beetle. In spite of precautions taken and control measures practiced 

 in the countries of origin, Turkish-type tobaccos are nearly always 

 infested upon arrival at the ports of entry into the United States. If 

 such tobaccos are not fumigated upon arrival and are stored with unin- 

 fested tobacco, the whole will likely be infested during the next warm 

 season unless suitable control measures are applied. Conversely, if 

 imported tobaccos are fumigated upon arrival and subsequently stored 

 with infested tobacco, they will be reinfested as soon as adults become 

 active. The adults of the tobacco moth and of the cigarette bettle 

 deposit their eggs on the burlap covering these bales, and when the 

 eggs hatch the young larvae crawl inside. 



Cigar and Snuff Tobaccos 



In cigar and snuff tobaccos the only pest of economic importance 

 is the cigarette beetle. The domestic tobaccos are infested princi- 

 pally after being packed in hogsheads, bales, or cases and placed in 

 storage. In these types the cigarette beetles gain entrance into the 

 package through small openings or they deposit their eggs on the 

 outside and the young larvae enter. Most of the infestation in cases 

 of this sort is around the outer edges of the tobacco. Imported cigar- 

 filler tobacco may be infested when packed and is sometimes brought 

 into this country from Puerto Rico and Cuba with cigarette beetles in 

 various stages distributed throughout the bales. 



