THE EUROPEAN CORN BORER AND ITS CONTROL. 5 



and of Jablonowski (16) in 1899. Robin and Laboulbene detail the 

 habits of the larva? and the character of their damage to corn, hemp, 

 hops and other food plants. The authors give an account of the severe 

 damage which resulted from the attacks of this insect on corn, hemp 

 and hops in the Department of the Aisne (France) during 1878 and 1879, 

 as well as short extracts from the writings of other European authors 

 mentioning the activities of this insect in various food plants. The 

 absence of parasites is noted, and brief descriptions are given of the larva, 

 pupa and adult. The authors recommend the burning of plants contain- 

 ing the overwintering larva^, during the fall or early winter, as the most 

 effective means of control. 



Jablonowski records a very severe outbreak of P. nuhilalis which de- 

 stroyed a fourth part of the corn crop in Hungary during 1898. This 

 damage was especially pronounced in the large plains of Hungary, which 

 are very fertile. The author describes the character of the damage caused 

 by the larva to corn, millet, hemp, hops and various minor food plants. 

 The adult is described and figured very accurately; its habits of flight 

 are detailed, and also the ovi position habits of the female. Mention is 

 made of a single parasitic fly (Ceromasia interrupta Rdi.) which the 

 author bred from the larva. Reference is also made to KoUar (6), who 

 in 1837 recorded that some Iclineumonidae had been bred from the species. 

 For control measures Jablonowski recommends that early in the season, 

 when most of the larva are confined to the terminal nodes of the plant, 

 these upper portions be cut off and thrown into a water barrel, to be sub- 

 sequently treated with hot water or fluid manure. This procedure can 

 be repeated at short intervals because the treatment will not curtail the 

 harvest. After harvest the infested plants should be pulled up by the 

 roots and burned. In cases where the upper parts of infested plants are 

 harvested the remaining stubble should be lightly plowed up, collected 

 with a rake and burned. The author mentions the fact that the plow- 

 ing under of infested material does not injiu-e the contained larvse. He 

 also states that after shelling the corn the cobs should be used as fuel 

 during the winter. The burning of all wild grasses that may serve as 

 host plants for the overwintering larvse is another general recommenda- 

 tion. These methods were found to be attended with considerable labor 

 and expense, but were very effective in controlling the pest in Hungary 

 during the outbreak of 1898. 



HISTORY IN UNITED STATES (MASSACHUSETTS). 

 Discovery of the Insect. 



During the summer of 1917 the senior author found many sweet corn 

 fields in the vicinity of Boston, Mass., which were being very severely 

 injured by light-colored larvae which tunneled in the stalk and later 

 attacked the ears. 



Further investigation disclosed the fact that the identity of these dep- 



