THE USE OF VACUUM FOR INSECT CONTROL 1 
By E. A. Back, Entomologist , and R. T. Cotton, Associate Entomologist, Stored - 
Product Insect Investigations, Bureau of Entomology , United States Department 
of Agriculture 
INTRODUCTION 
The use of high vacuum for the control of insects seems never 
to have been considered seriously by the commercial world. The 
recent development and exploitation by private interests of a vacuum 
chamber intended for the treatment of certain warehoused com¬ 
modities as a part of the equipment of a modern storage warehouse 
has aroused much interest in business circles and has given the 
writers an opportunity to make tests reported upon in this paper. 
HISTORICAL 
The possibility of killing insects by depriving them of air was con¬ 
ceived at least 250 years ago when the eminent scientist Robert 
Boyle ( 2 ) 2 invented a mechanical air pump 3 capable of exhausting 
a large proportion of the air from small receptacles. Boyle studied 
the effects of vacuums upon various forms of life. Unfortunately, 
from his published accounts one can not know the exact degree of 
vacuum employed. Although the vacuum obtained was by no 
means perfect, it proved effective in killing many forms with which 
he experimented. Boyle’s experiments are of great interest, but lack 
of information makes it impossible to interpret them satisfactorily. 
Jousset de Bellesme (5, p. 710), experimenting with vacuum in 
1880, concluded that Hymenoptera could survive in vacuum for 
5 or 6 hours at a temperature of 20° C. and Blattidae (cockroaches) 
for 2 hours at a temperature of 12° C. 
Cole (3, p, 69-71), in 1906, in an account of the bionomics of the 
grain weevils, records experimelits with vacuum upon Sitophilus 
oryza. According to his statement, adults of the rice weevil fed and 
oviposited when confined in a partial vacuum, and 5 out of the 10 
weevils experimented with were alive at the end of 23 days. In the 
experiment the mercury of the gauge was reduced to 5 inches. In a 
second experiment, with the mercury reduced to 1 inch, 5 out of 10 
adults were alive after an exposure to the vacuum for 15 days. 
Nagel (7), in 1921, published an account of experiments conducted 
for the control of Anobium striatum Oliv. and reported that larvae 
of this pest were unharmed by exposure to vacuum for 24 hours. 
The use of the vacuum in connection with fumigation work is 
well known and will not be discussed in this paper. Its use in con¬ 
nection with heat was tried by Mackie (6) for the control of the 
tobacco beetle infesting cigars. Mackie says (6, p . 135): 
The process in question consists of heating the tobacco to a certain degree 
-after which the air is pumped out until a 28-inch vacuum is registered by the 
vacuometer. The material being heated higher than the vapor tension point 
1 Received for publication June 16,1925; issued January. 1926. 
2 Reference is made by number (italic) to “Literature cited,” p. 1041. 
3 The first mechanical air pump was invented by Otto von Guericke in 1654, an account of his experi¬ 
ments with vacuums having been published in 1672 4). He experimented with birds and fish in vacuum 
but apparently did no work with insects. Boyle improved upon Von Guericke’s pump and published 
an account of his experiments in 1670. 
Journal of Agricultural Research, 
Washington, D. C. 
( 1035 ) 
Vol. XXXI, No. 11 
Dec. 1,1925 
Key No. K-156 
