122 INSECTS OF ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE 



burrows; the injury is often severe, especially far- 

 ther south. 



Control — Dustini^" the ends of the ears with a 

 mixture of powdered arsenate of lead, ^ pound, 

 and sulphur, V4 pound, has g-iyen fair results. 



The European corn borer ^^ (Pyrausta mihilalis) 

 Order — Lepidoptera 



This insect has lately been discovered in the 

 United States and is now known to exist in Massa- 

 chusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsvlvania and New 

 York. 



The insect passes the winter as nearly full-grown 

 caterpillars inside of cornstalks, cobs, weeds and 

 grasses ; during May the larv?e pupate in their bur- 

 rows; this stage lasts from 14 to 20 days and the 

 moths appear in May and June ; they lay their eggs 

 in batches on the undersides of the upper blades of 

 the corn; the larvae from these mature in about 4 

 weeks and on the average pupate in July ; the moths 

 from these appear the last of July or first of August 

 and lay eggs which produce the caterpillars that 

 pass the winter; this is the life history in eastern 

 Massachusetts, but in central New York there ap- 

 pears to be but one generation. 



Control — Root up and burn the infested corn- 

 stalks some time during the winter. 



The corn root-aphid ^"^ {Aphis maidiradicis) 

 Order — Hemiptera 



This aphid is closely associated with the corn- 

 field ant (Lasius niger, var. americamts), in fact, 

 seems dependent on it for its existence; in the fall 

 the egg-laying females deposit their eggs in the gal- 

 leries of the ant's nests and the ants care for the 



isVinal and Caffrey— Mass. Expt. Stat., Bull. 189. 

 14 Davis— U. S. Dept. Agr., Ear's' Bull. 891. 



