404 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 10 



30, 1913, sent a few young corn plants which he stated had been 

 gathered from a field where the crop growth was being destroyed by 

 "worms" attacking the base of the stalks. He asserted that this corn 

 had come up to a perfect stand, but at the tiine of writing, a great 

 many of the sprouts had died, while others looked unhealthy as if 

 affected by disease. Still some appeared outwardly to be sound and 

 vigorous although being generally found infested by the worm-like 

 enemy. A large part of the field had already been plowed up and 

 planted to cotton, but he had left a portion for an experiment to 

 determine whether the plants would be able to recover and produce a 

 crop or fail to be worth further attention. 



In response to his request for an opinion regarding the outcome of 

 the latter course, and for suggestion as to any method by which the 

 foe might be exterminated, very little advice could be given, because 

 preventive measures are about all that can be employed against enemies 

 of such nature. Then the application of precautionary treatments for 

 field crops such as corn would likely be of questionable value con- 

 sidering the cost of labor and material required. 



His belief that the pest was a larval form of some species of beetle 

 failed to be sustained by examination of the material furnished. 

 Injuries to the stalks were observed to have resulted from small shallow 

 cavities evidently caused by a scraping away of tissues on the base 

 close to the roots. Only a few dipterous larvse could be detected, 

 and all occurred in the cavities of one plant. The insect was regarded 

 as the common root maggot (Pegomyia fusciceps Zett.), also called the 

 seed-corn maggot. It therefore appeared to be the real culprit 

 responsible for the attacks. 



The absence of larvae in the other stalks given examination may have 

 been due to the emergence of the forms from the cavities and conse- 

 quent loss in transit, or else the maggots had gone into the soil for pupa- 

 tion before the plants were collected. The damage inflicted was 

 entirely different from that of deeper bored injuries as are committed by 

 the southern corn rootworm {Diahrotica duodecempundata OKv.), which 

 insect commonly ruined early stands of corn in the central and lower 

 sections of the state. Neither were the roots attacked nor stems 

 bored in this case. The plants measured from 12 to 15 inches in 

 height and had pushed out short prop roots. As not enough maggots 

 could be secured for rearing of the species, the name as cited should be 

 substantiated by positive determination of the insect involved. 



Pest of Hotbed with Tomato and Cauliflower Seedlings 



On receipt of specimens of insects taken from a hotbed, which 

 material accompanied an inquiry forwarded from Edgard, St. John the 



