EFORMED corn plants are often found to be 
infested by webworms, which gnaw the stem 
below the surface and by their ravages prevent the 
production of marketable grain. Grasslands of all 
kinds—meadows, pastures, lawns—furnish the nor- 
mal food of sod webworms, and, although the in- 
jury is often difficult to estimate, under conditions 
favorable to the insect it may become very serious. 
All of the feeding, whether upon corn or grass, is 
done by the insect in the larva or worm stage. Out- 
breaks of the various species of webworms in corn 
can be prevented only by cultural methods, such as 
early fall plowing, disking in the spring, the applica- 
tion of fertilizer, and the sowing of sound seed. 
Neither trapping nor poisoning has met with any 
success. Control of injury to grasslands is very dif- 
ficult, and little can be done short of plowing up the 
sod and planting it to some immune crop. 
Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology 
L. O. HOWARD, Chief 
Washington, D. C. May, 1922 
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