August, '14] AIXSLIE: THE WESTERN CORN-ROOT WORM 323 



the past year, added to its previously reported limits of distribution 

 in southern and eastern Tennessee, northern Alabama and eastern 

 Kentucky. 



Although the identity of the original food plant of this beetle is 

 as yet an unsolved mystery, corn now seems to be its sole dependence. 

 This fact in itself affords a strong hope of relief from its ravages. 

 Crop rotation, where possible, had proved almost without exception, 

 a complete ^remedy. There yet remains, however, a problem to be 

 solved. Along the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers in Tennessee 

 and northern Alabama and along the Arkansas, INIississippi and Ohio 

 Rivers as well as many of the smaller tributaries of each, are large 

 areas of rich bottom land subject to an almost certain annual over- 

 flow. This excess of water seems to have no deleterious effect whatever 

 on the eggs which pass the winter in the earth of the corn fields. In 

 one case which came under the observation of the writer, a portion 

 of the bottom land along the Duck River in middle Tennessee was 

 under water eleven times in one "^dnter, each time for from 2 to 12 

 days. The larvse were as numerous the following summer in this 

 portion as elsewhere. 



This overflow does, however, prohibit the growing of any but 

 summer crops. The present southern limit of distribution of the 

 species is within the cotton belt and in this district cotton and corn 

 can be alternated on such lands. Farther north, the systems of 

 farming generally followed demand that corn follow corn in the bottom 

 land. Here it is that these larvse do, and will continue to do, damage 

 until some crop can, occasionally at least, take the place of corn, 

 or some other method of control can be found. 



The life and seasonal histories of the species have been almost 

 completely worked out in Tennessee and found to be substantially 

 the same as farther north. There is but one annual generation, the 

 eggs for which pass the winter in the earth. Thej^ are laid in late 

 July, August and September in the ground about the bases of the 

 corn plants, especially in the small crevices among the brace roots. 

 They hatch in late May or early June of the following year and the 

 larvse are most active and injurious in late June and early July. A 

 drouth at this time vnW increase the resultant damage to a consider- 

 able extent. The beetles begin to appear in July and, in infested 

 fields, are to be found in countless numbers during the following two 

 months, feeding on the fresh corn silk and pollen. The most serious 

 damage, of course, is caused by the larvse, which, by feeding on and 

 in the small roots weaken and dwarf the plant, sometimes to such an 

 extent that it may be easily cHscerned, at others only enough to reduce 

 its yielding power without deforming it. When sufficienth' numerous, 



