22 



FARMERS BULLETIN 835. 



WIREWORMS. 



Wireworms (see fig. 14) are especially destructive to seed corn 

 in the ground and to the young corn and wheat plants. They work 

 entirely underground and are among the most difficult to control 

 of all the insect foes that afflict the farmer. Much may be done, 

 however, to lessen their ravages by careful tillage, drainage, proper 

 rotation of crops, etc., as will be explained. 



Wireworms are the young of the common snapping beetles, or 

 click beetles, and the worms are yellowish or brownish, highly pol- 

 ished and slippery to the touch. They move actively and disappear 

 rapidly when brought to the surface by the plow or spade. The 



FIG. 14. The dry-land wireworm (Corymbites noxius) : a, Adult; b, larva; c, under sur- 

 face of head of larva ; d> side of last segment of larva, a, 6, Enlarged ; c, d, more 

 enlarged. 



eggs are laid in the ground, usually in sod lands, where the young 

 worms are hatched. It takes three years for most kinds of wire- 

 worms to get their full growth and to become beetles. 



REMEDIES FOR WIREWORMS. 



The most successful methods for the control of wireworms are cul- 

 tural in nature, it having been found impossible, or at least imprac- 

 ticable, to poison them b}^ any known means. 



Where it is proposed to plant sod land to corn the following year, 

 to prevent wireworm injury the land should be plowed immediately 

 after the first hay cutting, usually early in July, and should be culti- 

 vated deeply during the remainder of the summer. 



