
MONTHLY LETTER OF THE BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY. ., 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULT RE" 


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Number 213 Activities for December January, 1932 
(Not for Publication) 
STORED PRODUCT INSECTS 
H. C. Donohoe, Fresno, Calif., finds that the dried fruit beetle 
(Carpophilus hemipterus L.) sometimes hibernates in unexpected places. 
Perez Simmons says: "In the course of a personal collectinz trip on 
December 6, Mr. Donohoe observed 25 to 30 adult dried fruit beetles 
hibernating in the soft, decaying wood of a cottonwood stump, in the 
vicinity of Skagg's Bridge, 18 miles west of Fresno on the San Joaquin 
River. Hibernation of the adult apart from decaying fruit was not pre- 
viously known." 
Mr. Simmons also reports: "Two experimental fumigations of Alican-— 
te raisins were made late in November under covers of waterproofed can- 
vas, using dosage rates of 15 and 17 pounds of liquid SO2 per 1,000 cubic 
feet. Complete kills of dried fruit insects were obtained only in test 
boxes placed in raisins at the bottom of the piles of sweat boxes. Ex- 
posures were 18 3/4 and 71 1/2 hours; temperatures were for the most part 
below 50° F. Analyses of the fumigated raisins * * * were reported to 
have shown 33 and 77 parts of SQz per million, the moisture content of 
the samples being 16.8 per cent and 22 per cent. * * * The evidence 
secured to date indicates that sulphur dioxide is an excellent fumigant 
for use during cold weather." 
The revival of insects fumigated in a vacuum with carbon disul- 
phide at low temperatures is reported byMr. Simmons: "On November 24 a 
2—-hcur test fumigation, made at the Fresno plant of the California Peach 
and Fig Growers Association, using CS2 blanketed with nitrogen, gave in—- 
complete kills. The temperature at the beginning was 49° F. All in- 
sects appeared dead upon removal, but revivals of saw-toothed grain 
peetle adults and of Ephestia larvae began, respectively, after 3 and 4 
days. One Ephestia larva revived after 9 days." 
On December 15 Merced County, Calif., adopted "An ordinance declar— 
ing Endosepsis, Dried Fruit Beetle, Vinegar Fly, and Fruit Moth to be 
pests, declaring certain things public nuisances by reason of their ef-— 
fect in propagating and disseminating Endosepsis, Dried Fruit Beetle, 
Vinegar Fly, and Fruit Moth, and regulating the business or industry of 
producing figs by providing means of abating such plant diseases and 
insects." 
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