PREVENTING INSECT DAMAGE IN 

 HOME-DRIED FRUITS 



By Perez Simmons, entomologist, Division of Fruit Insect Investigations, Bureau 

 of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, Agricultural Research Administration 



Dried fruits prepared at home, whether dried by the sun or by arti- 

 ficial heat and whether processed with sulfur dioxide or not, must be 

 protected from attack by insects, including moths, beetles, and flies. 

 This is needed both for products while they are drying, and for the 

 dried products before and during storage. This leaflet tells how to 

 prevent damage to home-dried fruits by the insects that are most likely 

 to cause spoilage. 



The Indian-meal moth and, in California and Arizona, the raisin 

 moth lay their eggs on drying fruits in the evening. The dried-fruit 

 beetle, active only during the day, is attracted especially to fruits that 

 are moist or fermenting. A small, slender beetle called the saw-toothed 

 grain beetle infests dried fruit that has been in storage for some time. 

 Familiar to all are the small vinegar flies, or pomace flies, that swarm 

 around most kinds of fruit and vegetable refuse. These flies, and the 

 housefly and other similar species, feed upon the juices of drying cut 

 fruits, thus reducing their quality, and also sometimes carry filth to 

 freshly cut fruits on the drying trays. The dried-fruit mite — minute 

 light-colored relative of the ticks — occasionally becomes established on 

 stored dried fruits. When present in large numbers, these mites impart 

 a disagreeable odor to the fruit. 



Exclusion of Insects 



Egg laying by moths and feeding by flies can be prevented during 

 the drying process by screening. For this purpose cheesecloth or the 

 open-weave shade cloth used over growing tobacco, asters, and chrys- 

 anthemums is satisfactory. Of special importance is the covering 

 of trays of fruit in the late afternoon, before the moths become active. 

 In some sections, fruit dried under cloth requires more time to dry 

 than unprotected fruit. In arranging the cloth, support it in such a 

 way as to keep it out of contact with the drying or dried fruit, and take 

 care to fasten down the bottom edges by laying boards on them. Fruit 

 on stacked trays or in open boxes should by all means be so protected. 

 Where very hot, continuous sunshine occurs, infestation on spread 

 trays is prevented during the day by high temperatures if the fruit is 

 spread thinly, but such fruit is subject to attack by moths during the 

 cooler hours of the evening. 



Washington, D. C. Issued October 1943 



2 

 550034°— 43 



