250 



APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY 



Corn, and particularly sweet corn, appears to be a favorite food of this insect, 

 and where it is abundant a large part of the crop may be destroyed. Large- 

 stemmed weeds such as barnyard grass, pigweed, etc., are also attacked, as well as 

 dahlias, gladiolus and other cultivated plants, which complicates the problem of 

 control. 



Control. The best method for checking the ravages of this pest is the destruc- 

 tion of all corn stalks to below the ground level, either by burning during the 

 winter or by using as ensilage. 



FIG. 248. FIG. 249. FIG. 250. 



FIG. 248. Part of a corn plant showing effect on the tassels of the work of the Euro- 

 pean Corn Borer (Pyrausta nubilalis Hbn.). (From a drawing by Snodgrass, U. S. D. A. 

 Bur. Ent.) 



FIG. 249. Corn stalk split, showing the larvae of the European Corn Borer and 

 their tunnels. About natural size. 



FIG. 250. Corn stalk cut into to show the pupa of the European Corn Borer. 

 Slightly enlarged. (Both figures from drawings by Snodgrass, U. S. D. A. Bur. Ent.) 



Family Limacodidae (Slug Caterpillars) . The insects belonging to this family 

 are of little importance from an economic standpoint, but their larvae are curious 

 in appearance, having little resemblance to ordinary caterpillars. Instead, they 

 are slug-like, short and rather stout, quite flat beneath, and appear to slide 

 along rather than crawl. Many have spines and rather showy, colored markings, 

 in some cases with soft, fleshy projections sometimes partly or entirely covered 

 with hairs. The Oriental Moth (Cnidocampa flavescens Walk.) several times 

 imported into this country from Asia by accident,. has established itself in Eastern 

 Massachusetts but is not apparently of much importance, though the spines on 

 the caterpillar cause a nettling of the skin of a person where the insect has been 

 touched. 



Family Psychidae (Bag Worms) . The caterpillars of a few species of moths 

 in this country construct silken bags around their bodies, partly covered with 



