CORN BILL BUGS 



209 



to every one thousand cubic feet of space, because this insect 

 requires intensive fumigation. (See fumigation methods, Chapter 

 VI.) 



Corn Bill Bugs, or Curlew Bugs. These are weevils or snout 

 beetles, and are of wide distribution. One species is slate colored, 

 about three-quarters of an inch long. Another is only one-quarter 

 of an inch long and black in color (Fig. 223). In a general way the 

 life history of the many species is the same. 



Life History. After hibernating in rubbish they lay their egg 

 usually on the roots of rushes or sedges. Grubs or larvae hatched 

 from these eggs are white, with brownish or blackish heads. 



Fia. 223. Two different species of corn bill bugs. 



Injury. They often injure corn, particularly if it is planted on 

 low, sedgy land, by eating into the tissues of the plant, thus caus- 

 ing the elliptical holes seen when the corn leaves are unfolded 

 (Fig. 224). A southern form of bill bug is restricted in its 

 range to the more southern states. 



Control. Early planted corn in the South (March and April) 

 shows less injury than the same crop when planted later. Rota- 

 tion of crops, generous fertilization, good drainage, late summer 

 or early fall and winter plowing, are all advised as methods of 

 control. Plowing, in the case of grass land or recently cleared 

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