INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SWEET CORN 



205 



in the Southern States not earlier than 1878, and years later 

 injurious occurrences in stems of beans and peanuts were 

 reported. The moth is exceedingly variable. The fore-wings 

 are pale yellow or ochreous, and the outer border, toward the 

 ends, consists of dark, purplish scales. The female (b) has 

 fore-wings varying from reddish to nearly black and the 



Fig. 130.— Smaller corn stalk-borer, a, Male moth; b, fore-wing of dark female; bb, 

 antenna of female; c, male at rest; d, larva; e, ventral segment of larva from side, 

 much enlarged: /, cocoon. All except e three times natural size. (Author's illustra- 

 tion, U.S. Dept. Agr.) 



hind-wings transparent, silvery fuscous. The larva (fig. 130, d) 

 is half an inch or more in length when mature, and a most 

 beautiful object when viewed through the lens; pale green, 

 marked with nine reddish brown longitudinal stripes, arranged 

 in transverse bands. Transformation takes place in a cocoon 

 formed of sand or dirt (fig. 130,/).^ 



This is a tropical species, occurring from the Gulf as far 

 north as North Carolina. It also inhabits Central and South 

 America. 



"While chiefly injurious to young corn, destroying many 



1 A full account of this species is given in Bui. 23, Bu. Entom., U. S. Dept, 

 Agr., pp. 17-22. 



