CORN INSECTS 223 



South they are dormant only for a few days at a time during 

 periods of cold weather, and in southern Florida and Texas 

 the beetles are active throughout the winter. The adults feed 

 on a great variety of plants both wild and cultivated. They 

 are often found in the blossoms of squash, pumpkin, melon 

 and cucumber, feeding on the pollen. They also attack 

 seedling cucurbits in much the same way as the striped 

 cucumber beetle and often gnaw holes in the fruit. They 

 sometimes seriously injure young beans, peas, cabbage, cauli- 

 flower, kale, turnip, mustard, rhubarb, asparagus, eggplant, 

 potato, tomato and beet and there is a record of their being 

 destructive to spinach in New Mexico. The beetles are often 

 found in the spring feeding on the blossoms of fruit-trees and 

 later in the season on the flowers of cotton and on the silk 

 of corn, but they are probably most abundant on the flowers 

 of various wild plants such as goldenrod, wild sunflower and 

 many others. The larvae are found most abundant on the 

 roots of corn but they also attack the roots of bean, rye, wheat, 

 millet, alfalfa, southern chess, barnyard-grass, Johnson-grass, 

 golden glow, Jamestown weed and pigweed (Amaranthus). 



The beetle deposits her eggs in early spring in cracks and 

 crevices of the ground around the base of the plant. A single 

 female has been known to lay over 500 eggs, but the average is 

 probably much less. Only a few days are required for the beetle 

 to lay her full complement of eggs, but as all the beetles do not 

 mature at the same time, egg-laying will continue over a period of 

 a month or more. The egg is dull yellow, oval and about tV 

 inch in length. The eggs hatch in a week to over three weeks 

 and the young larva begins feeding on the roots. In the case 

 of young corn plants, the grubs often enter the stalk near 

 the upper circle of roots, killing the bud or inner leaves, or they 

 may eat out irregular holes in the root, often severing them 

 from the plant. The injury is usually most severe to corn 

 growing in low wet land. The larva becomes mature in fifteen 



