9 Farmers’ Bulletin 1294. 
The discovery, in August, 1921, of a slight but extensive infesta- 
tion of the pest along the southern shore of Lake Erie in Pennsyl- 
vania, Ohio, and Michigan indicates that this insect is about to 
invade the area of most intensive corn production, and that steps to 
combat the pest must be taken promptly if future losses from its 
work are to be prevented or-overcome. 
HISTORY OF THE INSECT IN THE UNITED STATES. 
During the summer of 1917 the European corn borer (Fig. 1) 
was first reported and identified from the United States.2 At that 
time it was found to be causing severe damage to sweet corn in the 
vicinity of Boston, Mass., and to be present within an area of at 
least 100 square miles in that section. 
In January, 1919, the insect was discovered in the vicinity of 
Schenectady, N. Y., and in September, 1919, separate infestations 
were found south of Buffalo, N. Y., and at Girard, Pa. 
The summer scouting of 1921 revealed an infestation of the 
pest on Middle Bass Island in Lake Erie, not far from the Ohio 
shore. Subsequent investigations showed that a sparse but extensive 
infestation occurred throughout a narrow strip of’ territory com- 
prising most of the towns bordering Lake Erie, and adjacent thereto, 
in the States of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan. 
DISTRIBUTION IN NORTH AMERICA. 
UNITED STATES. 
To date the European corn borer is known to be present in three 
separate areas in the United States (Fig. 2) comprising a total area 
of 7,696 square miles. 
The most severely infested area is in New England and con- 
tains 2,670 square miles including 140 towns in eastern Massa- 
chusetts and 12 towns in southeastern New Hampshire. This area 
extends along the Atlantic coast and a short distance inland. (Fig. 
2s) 
In eastern New York 64 towns and cities, containing 2.203 square 
miles, are known to be infested. This area is in the section sur- 
rounding Schenectady. (Fig. 2, 0.) 
The third and largest area of infestation is in the territory along 
the American shore of Lake Erie, and probably extends only a short 
distance inland. This includes 44 towns in western New York, 
comprising an area of 1,634 square miles, 12 townships and cities in 
northwestern Pennsylvania, with an area of 347 square miles, 30 
townships in northern Ohio, with an area of 757 square miles, and 
3 townships in southeastern Michigan with an area of 85 square 
miles. (Fig. 2, c.) 
2In August, 1916, specimens of dahlia stems infested by caterpillars of some moth were 
sent to the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station, Amherst, Mass., from three 
localities near Boston, Mass. Adults were reared from this material, but the fact that 
they were the European corn borer was not established until after adults had been reared 
and identified from sweet corn in 191. 
