The Bulletin. 23 



luin, assistant, noted tlieni abundant on squash at Raleigh, as many as 

 25 on one leaf, and mating was common. At Andrews, Cherokee 

 County, on May 20, 1911, I found adults plentiful on cabbage in gar- 

 den, and indicated their presence on beans. As a matter of fact, the 

 adults feed freely on leaves and flowers of many plants, and are not 

 confined to any particular kinds. 



Life-history. — Prof. F. M. Webster' has recently published an account 

 of this pest, in which he has brought together the observations of many 

 workers, and concludes that "from all available information it appears 

 that the egg period varies greatly and may require from 7 to 24 days, 

 the larval (worm) period 15 to 35 days, and that of the pupa (between 

 the worm and the adult beetle) from 7 to 13 days." 



Dr. Chittenden' records one individual adult beetle as having laid 209 

 eggs, though this is probably above the average, and he concludes that 

 there are three broods at Washington, and possibly four further south. 



Briefly stated, the general life-history of the insect seems to be about 

 as follows: The adults pass the winter, emerge very early in spring, 

 feeding on flowers and foliage, mate, and lay eggs at the base of corn or 

 other plants in which the worms feed; the worms on hatching from the 

 eggs, burrow into the root or stalk of the plant attacked, become grown 

 in a few weeks, leave the plant and change to the pupa state in the earth 

 close by, from which the beetles emerge one to tAvo weeks later. Several 

 broods are produced in the course of the season. 



Two farmers in Worth Carolina, Dr. Porter of Pender County and 

 Mr. James Middleton of Wake, placed jars over infested corn plants and 

 thus bred the adult beetles. 



REMEDIES. 



The time of planting appears to be the greatest factor in preventing 

 Com Bud-worm. The complaints quoted shoAv it to be worse early in the 

 season, or in cool spells of early spring; hence the general later plant- 

 ing of corn would suggest itself. 



In South Carolina Mr. W. A. Thomas' divides his State into three 

 general regions corresponding to our (1) coastal plain, (2) lower pied- 

 mont, and (3) upper piedmont, and concludes (in South Carolina, be it 

 remembered) that in the first or eastern of these divisions corn planted 

 after May 5th will escape the worst of the injury; in the second or 

 middle region, after May 12th, while in the west, after May 19th. For 

 our own State, we should be inclined to make all the dates from one to 

 two weeks later to allow for difference in latitude and elevation. 



But the experience and testimony of farmers themselves cannot be 

 wholly disregarded, at least not unless the most exact and definite evi- 



^Bul. No. 5. U. S. Dept. Agr., Sept. 27, 1913, "Southern Corn Root-worm or Bud-worm." 

 F. M. Webster. 



=Cir. 59, Bur. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., "Corn Root-worms." F. H. Chittenden, March, 

 1905. 



^BuL 161, S. C. Exp. Sta., "The Bud-worm of Corn." W. A. Thomas, March, 1912. 



