2 CIRCULAR 6 3 5, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Most tobaccos must be held in storage for 2 years or longer 

 so that a slow fermentation, or aging, can be induced with natural 

 conditions of temperature and moisture. Therefore, manufacturers 

 must carry in storage large stocks of tobaccos in order to fulfill 

 trade and manufacturing requirements. On January 1, 1941. for 

 example, there was in storage in the United States and Puerto Rico 

 a total of 2.988,187.000 pounds of unmanufactured leaf tobacco, for 

 which millions of cubic feet of warehouses were required. 



These valuable stocks of tobacco are subject to attack by the cigarette 

 beetle and the tobacco moth, and unless they are properly protected 

 large losses may result. This circular was prepared to provide the 

 tobacco industry with the most up-to-date information regarding the 

 pests of cured tobacco and recommendations for their control. 



CLASSES AND TYPES OF TOBACCO 



The various tobaccos stored in this country are grouped into 

 the following classes: Flue-cured, fire-cured, air-cured, cigar filler, 

 cigar binder, cigar wrapper, miscellaneous domestic, foreign-grown 

 cigar, and foreign-grown cigarette. These groups comprise 35 or 

 more domestic and foreign types, the latter being represented espe- 

 cially by the cigar types produced in Cuba, Sumatra, Java, and the 

 Philippine Islands and the cigarette types produced in countries of 

 southeastern Europe and the Near East. Most of the tobacco used 

 in domestic manufacture is held in storage during the aging period 

 near the manufacturing centers, and stocks of American tobaccos 

 intended for export are largely stored in warehouses at ports along 

 the Atlantic coast. The distribution of the tobacco districts, to- 

 gether with types produced, is shown in figure 1. 



HISTORY OF STORED-TOBACCO INSECTS 



The cultivation and use of tobacco by American natives was 

 mentioned in historical documents as early as 1503. The first culti- 

 vation of tobacco on a commercial scale by the English-speaking 

 colonists in America was at Jamestown, Va., in 1612. 



No mention was made of the attacks of stored pests in the early 

 records on tobacco, and this is unusual, since the cigarette beetle 

 has been generally conceded to be a native American insect. This 

 insect was first described in France in 1792 from specimens col- 

 lected in America. 



The oldest record of the occurrence of the cigarette beetle comes from 

 Egypt, from the tomb of Tutankhamen (Alfieri, A., 1931 3 ) : 



Insects found in alabaster vases in the tomb of Tutankhamen were Lasioderma 

 serricome F.. Sltodrepa panicea L.. and the ptinid Gibbium psylloides Czeinp., 

 generally embedded in some substance such as dried resin. These beetles are 

 therefore probably indigenous to Egypt and have scarcely altered morphologically 

 in the 3,500 years that have elapsed. 



The earliest record of the occurence of this insect in stored tobacco 

 in the United States was in North Carolina in 1886. and additional 



3 Alfieri, A. les insectes de la tombe de toutankhamon. Soc. Rot. Ent. d'Egvtpe, 

 Bui. 1931 (3-4) : 188-189. 1931. [Abstract in Rev. Appl. Ent.. Ser. A, 20:107. 1932.] 



