2 
THE SOUTHERN CORN ROOT-WORM. 
(Diabrotica 12-punctata O1.) 
This species is also known in the South as the ** bud-worm ”’ and less 
commonly as the © drill worm.’? In some regions it is recognized only 
by the former name, while the latter is of more recent use. The beetle 
is familiar to most persons in its occurrence on cucumber, squash, and 
other cucurbits. It frequents the flowers, and by peeping into them 
one or more beetles and the places where they have gnawed the petals 
may be seen, for they are among the most omnivorous of insects and 
appear to be able to subsist on any form of vegetation on which they 
may happen’to alight. They are, in fact, to be found in practically all 
fields of corn and in gardens everywhere, but it is seldom that the larvee 
are associated with the 
beetles except by those 
well versed in entomol- 
ogy or who have had 
experience with both 
forms of insects. The 
species is best known 
northward as the 
twelve-spotted cucum- 
ber beetle. 
DESCRIPTIVE. 
This insect has four 
stages, adult or beetle, 
egg, larva, and pupa. 
Fie. 1.—Southern corn root-worm (Diabrotica 12-punctata): a, : 
} ELE o- 
beetle; b,egg; c, larva; d, anal segment of larva; e, work of larva The beetle 18 elong 
at base of cornstalk; f, pupa—all much enlarged except e, which ate pyriform, yellowish 
is reduced (reengraved after Riley, except f, after Chittenden). 
green in color, and the 
elytra or wing-covers are marked with twelve black spots (fig. 1, a). 
The head is black, as are also the legs, except portions of the femora 
or thighs. The length is one-fourth of an inch or a little longer. 
The egg (b) does not differ materially from that of related species, 
such as the striped cucumber beetle, except in size. It is broadly oval 
in shape, measuring in the average 0.025 inch in length. The color is 
dull yellow, and the surface is closely and somewhat regularly faceted. 
The larva (ec) is slender, even thread-like. delicate and soft-bodied, 
and white or yellowish in color. The body is smooth and cylindrical, 
the head short and rounded, and brownish in color, and the first thoracic 
segment is also slightly brown, while the anterior extremity as a rule 
ends in two points.! 
' Less acute than in the striped cucumber beetle (Diabrotica vittata) and some- 
times obtuse or wanting. 
