CONTROL OF INSECTS ATTACKING STORED TOBACCO 11 



CHARACTER OF INJURY AND FOOD HABITS 



The larva is the only stage of the tobacco moth that feeds. In 

 tobacco its injury is confined almost exclusively to unmanufactured 

 flue-cured and imported cigarette tobaccos. Infestations in other 

 types of tobacco and in manufactured tobaccos are practically un- 

 known, even though several other types may be stored in the same 

 building with infested flue-cured tobacco. Among the types attacked 

 the insect has shown a particular fondness for the grades highest in 

 sugar content. 



Feeding injury by larvae of the tobacco moth in flue-cured ciga- 

 rette tobacco is shown in figure 7. The larvae usually feed from the 

 stem end toward the tip, but they may attack the leaves at any point 

 between the midrib and the larger veins, leaving behind them strands 

 of webbing, to which black pellets of larval excrement adhere. In 

 addition to the absence of large areas of the leaves, in some instances 

 nil except the midrib and veins, the webbing and accumulations of 

 excrement are objectionable to buyers and manufacturers. 



Figuuk 8. — The larger tobacco beetle, a pest of stored tobacco in the Tropics. It is also 

 reported from Florida. Approximately 10 times natural size. (From Runner.) 



The tobacco moth may feed on a variety of stored products as well 

 as on tobacco. In the United States it has been reported as feeding 

 on dried fruits. In the course of investigations at Richmond the 

 insect was reared on corn meal, cottonseed meal, rolled oats, peanut 

 meal, wheat "red dog" (low-grade flour), laying mash, and sweetened 

 mixed feed (horse feed). From this and other countries the larvae 

 have been recorded as feeding upon cacao beans, chocolate, various 

 shelled nuts, linseed and flaxseed meals, coffee, chicory, ship's biscuits, 

 cottonseed cake, cayenne pepper, rice, pearl barley, and other seeds. 



Unimportant Species 



In addition to the cigarette beetle and the tobacco moth, other 

 species of insects are occasionally collected in cured tobacco and 

 tobacco products, and some are known to feed on the tobacco. Promi- 

 nent among these occasional pests is the larger tobacco beetle (Cato- 

 rama tabaci Guerin), found in the Tropics and reported from Florida. 

 This insect (fig. 8) attacks cured tobacco and tobacco seed in much 

 the same manner as does the cigarette beetle. 



