128 



PESTS OF GARDEN AND FIELD CROPS 



or pastured, the pest is never abundant enough to demand special 



treatment. 



Bill-bugs (Sphejiophorus spp.) 



Bill-bugs are small, dark snout beetles, one fourth to three fourths 

 of an inch long. Their serious injury is to young corn, and varies 



somewhat according to the species 

 at work. 



Fig. 107. — A Bill-bug, Sphenophorus 

 costipennis Horn. Original. 



The Maize Bill-bug {Spheno- 

 phorus maidis Chittn.) injures corn, 

 both in its larval stage as a grub 

 burrowing in the lower part of 

 the stalk and the taproot, and 



Fig. 106. — Work of Bill-bugs. 

 Original. 



Fig. 108. — A Bill-bug, Sphenophorus 

 zece Walsh. Original. 



as an adult beetle, later in the summer. Infested corn looks 

 untlirifty, is stunted, and later the stalks are distorted and twisted. 

 If a stalk is cut open, the burrow of the grub will be found in 

 its lower part, and up to August the grub itself will be found, 

 a small, thickset larva with a black head. By September the adult 

 beetle, black, two fifths to three fifths of an inch long, will be found in 



