INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN 



167 



The Lesser Corn Stalk-borer * 



This small moth has been sporadically injurious for many 

 years and seems to be on the increase in the Southern States where 

 it is at times injurious 

 to corn, sorghums, 

 wheat, cowpeas and 

 crabgrass, as well as 

 other plants in con- 

 siderable numbers. 



Description. The 

 moth is a small, FIG. 142. The lesser corn stalk borer: larva, greatly 

 brownish gray form enlaJge(L (After Luginbill and Ainslie, L. C.) 



with a wing expanse of less than one inch. The fore wings of the 

 female are darker than those of the male. The larvae are slender 

 caterpillars, three quarters of an inch in length. Their prevailing 

 color is a light green with darker markings, prominent among 

 which are brownish transverse bands. 



FIG. 143. The lesser corn stalk-borer: a, male moth; 6, fore-wing of female 

 moth. Greatly enlarged. (After Luginbill and Ainslie, L. C.) 



Life history. Eggs are produced throughout the summer 

 and fall and the winter is passed in the larval or pupal stage. 

 There are probably as many as four generations in the southern 

 range of the insect and fewer in the North. 



* Elasmopalpus lignosellus Zeller. Family Pyalididce. 

 See U. S. Dept. Agr. Bulletin 539, Luginbill and Ainslie. 



