UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



J^^^u-u 



BULLETIN No. 363 



Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology 

 L. O. HOWARD, Chief 



■S^^'^U 



Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER. 



May 8, 1916. 



THE PINK CORN- WORM: 

 AN INSECT DESTRUCTIVE TO CORN IN THE CRIB. 



By F. H. Chittenden, In Chargeof Truck Crop and Stored Product Insect Investigations. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 



Nature of injury 



Description 



Thiemoth 



The egg 



The young larva 



The full-grown larva. 



The pupa 



The CO coon 



Distribution 



Records of injury 



Page. 

 1 

 2 

 3 

 3 

 4 

 5 



History and literature 



Associated insects 



Natural enemies 



Methods of control 



Carbon bisulphid 



Directions for use. 

 Precautions 



Other remedies 



Summary 



Bibliography 



Pig. 1.— The pink corn-worm (Batrachedra rileyi): Full- 

 grown larva, lateral view. Enlarged. (Original.) 



INTRODUCTION. 



For nearly three-fourths of a century the larva of a small moth {Ba- 

 frac^.e^raWZeyiWals.), commonly known as the pink corn-worm (fig. 1), 

 has been found in com in the 

 field and in store as well as in 

 blasted cotton bolls. Itwas 

 not, however, until the year 

 1914 that this species was 

 recognized as a pest. Dur- 

 ing November and December of that yeur complaints were made of 

 damage by the pink corn-worm to corn in cribs. The number of 

 complaints was enormous and the damage in Mississippi was so 

 widespread that much alarm was felt in infested districts. The 

 correspondence, which will presently be quoted, shows plainly the 

 extent of the insect's ravages as also the fear that entire crops 



Note.— This bulletin points out the increasing menace of this insect, which has never been considered 

 a serious enemy of grain, but now assumes nearly the same importance as the Angoumois grain moth and is 

 much more, troublesome than the European grain moth. It also recommends methods of control. It 

 will prove of interest to farmers in the region extending from South Carolina westward to central Texas, 

 southward to southern Texas, and northward to Arkansas and Teimessee. 

 26427°— Bull. 363—16 1 



