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Control of Tobacco Beetle

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Jitterbugdude

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Looks like Spinosad or BT will prevent/kill tobacco beetles. I get my first infestation of tobacco hornworm in early July so I spray with Spinosad. If I still have tobacco on the stalk in late August I give them another shot of Spinsoad because that's when I get a second wave of hornworms. Turns out this is a pretty good practice because by spraying spinosad right before harvest it appears to prevent tobacco beetles. Read below, the two articles. One studied Spinosad, the other BT. They reference two of the major stains as being BT Kurstaki and Thuringiensis. Fortunately for us that is the primary strain in all the commercially sold BT products.

Pest Manag Sci. 2004 Nov;60(11):1091-8.
Activity of spinosad on stored-tobacco insects and persistence on cured tobacco stripst.
Blanc MP1, Panighini C, Gadani F, Rossi L.

Abstract
Every year raw tobacco and manufactured tobacco products are lost to two major storage pests, the cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne (F) and the tobacco moth, Ephestia elutella (Hiibner). Post-harvest management of both insects is achieved through sanitation, insect monitoring and fumigation with phosphine. However, insect resistance to phosphine and control failures have been reported, and fumigants are under constant regulatory pressure. Here we report the evaluation of spinosad, a bioinsecticide derived from the fermentation of the soil micro-organism Saccharopolyspora spinosa Mertz & Yao. Spinosad was first registered in 1997 and is now widely used as a field pest control agent on many crops, including tobacco. The insecticidal activity of the fermentation product (technical spinosad, TS) was measured by diet incorporation assays against L serricorne and E elutella larvae. Mortality levels were determined on newly hatched larvae and over the whole insect life cycle. For both species, no emergence of adult insects was observed in cured tobacco sprayed with 50mg TS kg(-1) and inoculated with eggs or newly hatched larvae. These results indicated that spinosad has potential for the control of both species in stored tobacco, since 100% control of both pests could be achieved at 50 mg TS kg(-1), and with almost full control (90-95%) at 10 mg kg(-1). We also monitored the stability of the product on cured tobacco. The original concentration of the main active component of TS, spinosyn A, did not change significantly over 18 months, indicating no loss of spinosad during a typical leaf storage period of time. Bioassays against larvae confirmed that the bioinsecticidal activity of spinosad was retained.
J Invertebr Pathol. 2002 Oct;81(2):122-6.
Assessment of the efficacy of Japanese Bacillus thuringiensis isolates against the cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne (Coleoptera: Anobiidae).
Tsuchiya S1, Kasaishi Y, Harada H, Ichimatsu T, Saitoh H, Mizuki E, Ohba M.


Abstract
A total of 2,652 Japanese isolates of Bacillus thuringiensis, belonging to at least 54 H serogroups, were examined for assessment of the toxicity against the cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne (Coleoptera: Anobiidae). When tested with spore/parasporal inclusion mixtures, strong larvicidal activities were associated with 28 isolates (1.1%). Serologically, these toxic isolates fell into 4 known H serovars: thuringiensis (9 isolates), kurstaki (2), kenyae (2), and darmstadiensis (15). Purified parasporal inclusions of the 10 selected isolates exhibited no larvicidal activity, while the supernatants of liquid cultures showed larvicidal and/or growth inhibitory effects. The activities were fully retained after heat treatment at 100 degrees C for 10 min. Overall results suggest that beta-exotoxin (or thuringiensin)-related substances are responsible for the toxicity of the present B. thuringiensis isolates against the cigarette beetle.
 

webmost

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"Purified parasporal inclusions of the 10 selected isolates exhibited no larvicidal activity"

That's good to know.
 

Knucklehead

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I use Spinosad in the tobacco patch. Any suggestions for the non growers about how to use it for stored tobacco or cigars? Where and when to apply, how long to wait before smoking, safety issues, etc. etc?

The study shows "We also monitored the stability of the product on cured tobacco. The original concentration of the main active component of TS, spinosyn A, did not change significantly over 18 months, indicating no loss of spinosad during a typical leaf storage period of time."
How safe are those levels for humans?
 

Jitterbugdude

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From the Journal "Toxicological Sciences": " The no observed effect level (NOEL) in the 13-week studies was 0.012% (24 mg/kg/day) spinosad."
This was for rats. We humans usually synthesize things differently so I do not know what the NOEL would be for humans. But 24mg/kg/day is pretty dam high.
 

Planter

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Against the beetle, isn't freezing cured tobacco the most simple option?
"L. serricorne cannot tolerate the cold; adults die within 6 days at 4 °C, and eggs survive 5 days at 0–5 °C" (Wikipedia)
As far I know all major importers in Europe give cigars a cold treatment for this reason.
 

Jitterbugdude

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Freezing appears to work but in my case I grow 15 to 30 lbs of tobacco every year. Putting that much tobacco into my freezers is not really an option.
 

Muskrat

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Against the beetle, isn't freezing cured tobacco the most simple option?
"L. serricorne cannot tolerate the cold; adults die within 6 days at 4 °C, and eggs survive 5 days at 0–5 °C" (Wikipedia)
As far I know all major importers in Europe give cigars a cold treatment for this reason.

Maybe kilning them at 125° F would kill them, too. Handy if your kiln is bigger than your freezer.
 
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