CORN INSECTS 121 



stem near the base and in the tap root; in general 

 the beetles are robust, reddish-brown, or black, or 

 clay-colored, and vary from J^ to 5^ of an inch or 

 more in length; perhaps the ''curlew bug" or "rice 

 bug" is the best known. 



The beetles hibernate and appear early in spring 

 when they feed on grasses or corn; in May the 

 beetle digs cavities in the stalks of young corn near 

 or below the soil and lays her eggs in them; in 

 older corn the eggs may be laid in the thick leaves ; 

 the egg hatches in about a week and the grub bur- 

 rows in the tap root ; in from 4 to 6 weeks the grub 

 becomes mature and pupates in its burrow ; the pu- 

 pal stage lasts 7 to 10 days; there is but one genera- 

 tion a year; the small blue-grass billbug (S. par- 

 viihis) breeds in grasses, especially blue-grass and 

 timothy; the clay-colored billbug {S. cequalis) 

 breeds in coarse swamp grasses. 



Control — Sodland suspected of infestation with 

 billbugs should be plowed in the fall or planted to 

 some crop other than corn; in the south early 

 planted corn is least injured; rotation of crops is 

 advantageous. 



The corn ear-worm ^^ (Heliothis obsoleta) 

 Order — Lepidoptera 



The corn ear-worm, the cotton boUworm, and 

 the tomato fruit-worm are all one and the same ; the 

 life history of this insect has been discussed under 

 cotton pests; in the case of corn the moth deposits 

 her white eggs on the corn silk ; they hatch and the 

 caterpillars enter the tip of the ear, where they 

 gnaw and eat the kernels, sometimes burrowing 

 down the whole length of the ear; they produce 

 much brown excrement which lodges along their 



12 Quaintance and Brues— U. S. Bu. Ent, Bull. 50. 



