INSECT ENEMIES OF CORN. 



By Fkanklin Sherman, Jr., Entomologist. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Nearly one-half of all the land planted in crops in North Carolina 

 each year is devoted to corn. The yearly money value of the total crop 

 is estimated at $70,000,000. 



Insects are estimated to destroy approximately one-tenth of the total 

 value of our crop products. Allowing that corn suffers its proportional 

 share, we are brought to the conclusion that the corn crop in North 

 Carolina suffers an average loss of $7,000,000 per year from insect pests. 



Nor can it be said that this is an exaggerated estimate. "What with 

 wire-worms, cut-worms, bud-worms, bill-beetles, stalk-borers, chinch-bugs, 

 ear-worms, weevils, and others, the corn plant certainly seems to suffer its 

 full one-tenth loss. The writer has frequently known of cases in this 

 State where one species of pest alone has destroyed from one-half to 

 three-fourths of the entire crop; a total loss has been reported in some 

 instances. Injury by insects frequently makes replanting necessary, 

 and this is always a serious loss of time, labor, seed, and use of land. 

 Putting the matter in its mildest light, the loss certainly runs well up 

 among the millions. 



The object of this Bulletin is to show how and where these losses 

 occur, to describe the insects responsible for them, and set forth the 

 remedies or methods which may be employed in preventing or avoiding 

 these injuries. 



A Bulletin on "Insect Enemies of Corn" was issued in May, 1905,* 

 but the edition has been exhausted. The continued demand for infor- 

 mation about corn insects makes a new issue desirable. The work of the 

 county demonstration agents, the boys' corn clubs, the teaching of agri- 

 culture in many of our public schools, and many other commendable 

 factors, have all increased the interest in ^the corn crop, and in the ene- 

 mies which attack corn. 



In the present Bulletin the descriptions of the insects and the account 

 of injuries in North Carolina are based on our own observations, corre- 

 spondence, etc. The accounts of life-histories, remedies, etc., are gleaned 

 from all available reliable sources, including text-books, bulletins, etc., 

 as well as our own observations. A great work yet lies ahead in the 

 working out of the exact, detailed life-histories of our Southern corn in- 

 sects and in determining with exact, scientific accuracy the degree of 



♦Vol. 26, No. 5, Bui. N. C. Dept. Agr., May, 1905, "Insect Enemies of Corn." P. Sher- 

 man. 



