STORED PEANUTS 217 



The ground so drained should be allowed to dry. This should be 

 done before a large number of the plants have become weakened. 

 Tucker (U. S. Bureau of Entomology, Circular 152) recommends 

 alternate flooding and drying. Freeing ground, by cultivation, of 

 all weeds and grasses, and doing away with depressions and dead 

 furrows, is desirable. 



Rice Stalk Borer, or "White Blast." The caterpillar of this 

 insect (Chilo plejadellus Trinck) bores in the rice stem. This 

 attack causes the head of the infected plant to die and become 

 light colored, hence the term "white blast." 



Control. It is recommended that one should burn over the 

 fields in whiter, destroying all volunteer rice, weeds, etc., on the 

 edges of the field. If this is not practical, cut all volunteer weeds 

 and rice close to the ground, taking them away from fences, and 

 burning them in a safe place. 



Rice Grub (Chalepus trachypgnus Burm.). The adult insect 

 is shiny black, two-thirds of an inch long. The larva is white. 

 Overflowing is recommended as the best remedial measure. 



Corn Root Worm. J. B. Garrett, of Louisiana, says he has 

 seen whole fields of rice ruined by the southern corn root worm 

 (Diabrotica 12-punctata). See page 240 for a discussion of this 

 insect. Drowning out by flooding is recommended for this pest. 



Enemies of Stored Rice. Attacks on stored rice are made by 

 the rice weevil (see page 347) and other mill and warehouse insects. 

 All of these are controlled to a greater or less extent by fumigation. 

 Rice held in cold storage will escape attack. Termites or white 

 ants (Termes flavipes) are said, by Garrett, to sometimes attack 

 stored rice. 



PEANUT INJURIES DUE TO INSECTS 



Stored Peanuts. Many of the tender shells of peanuts are 

 broken by machine handling and by the workmen climbing over 

 stored sacks. This invites the attack of the Indian meal moth, 

 described under mill insects, page 349. One or more of the flour 

 beetles, saw-tooth grain beetles, and others also attack stored 

 peanuts. 



These insects all yield either to the "heating method" or fumi- 

 gation. The heating method consists in tightly closing all openings 

 in a storeroom or warehouse and keeping the temperature at from 

 120 to 125 degrees F., but not above the latter figure, for eight or 

 ten hours. When this method is not available, fumigation with 



