19 



trolled by fumigation, the damage done usually being slight. How- 

 ever, with the commercial production of tobacco and the necessity of 

 storing large quantities of tobacco in warehouses over long periods, 

 the cigarette beetle has become a serious pest in the tobacco districts 

 and its control is not at all easy — indeed, it is often practically impos- 

 sible — and serious damage to the stored leaf, before it can be sold or 

 manufactured, is unavoidable. 



There is very little information of a historical, descriptive, or bio- 

 graphic nature in regard to the cigarette beetle. On account of its 

 peculiar habits and common occurrence, however, the beetle is 

 unusually well known even to the business man. It can be recog- 

 nized from the following brief description: The eggs are said to be 

 white and very minute. The larva is a short, stout, hairy, sordid 

 white grub, between 3 and 4 mm. long, with well-defined chithiized 

 head and three pairs of short legs. The integument of the body is 

 much wrinkled and the body itself is usually somewhat bent. The 

 adult beetle is about 2.5 mm. long, reddish brown, and covered with 

 pale hairs. The antennas are regularly serrate and fairly long. The 

 male is slightly smaller than the female. 



Mackie 1 in the Philippines states that eggs hatch 1 1 days after 

 deposition and that the pupal stage covers 15 days. The length of 

 the larval stage is not given. 



Remedies. — The usual method of destroying the cigarette beetle is 

 to expose it to the action of poisonous gases, either the fumes of 

 carbon bisulphid or of hydrocyanic-acid gas. This method gives 

 admirable success where the infestation is only incidental and local 

 and the infested material can be placed in a tight compartment so 

 that the gases can be confined and their full strength utilized. But 

 when the infestation becomes general, as in warehouses in which 

 stored products are being continually handled, it is exceedingly diffi- 

 cult to control the beetle with gases or by any other means, and the 

 only relief that can be obtained is ha a systematic fumigation of the 

 whole warehouse from time to time, or different parts of it which can 

 be rendered tight against the diffusion of the gas. Sometimes, also, 

 it is a distinct advantage to spray the floors and walls with benzine 

 or kerosene. In the tobacco industry, baled tobacco offers the great- 

 est resistance to palliative measures, and no satisfactory method of 

 treatment has yet been devised for it. Manufactured goods are often 

 kept in cold storage to prevent beetle injury, and as the insect is 

 unable to develop in the presence of such low temperatures (32 to 

 34° F.), the goods are safe while in storage and if not removed too 

 soon the danger of injury after withdrawal is greatly reduced. It 

 has, however, been shown that even low temperatures continued for 



i Philippine Agr. Rev., 4 (1911), No. 11, p. 607. 



