(i2, NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Borers in the tassel, stalk and all parts of ear, late July to fall, never 



more than three-fourths of an inch long, yellowish white, minutely 



brown spotted. European com borer ^ 



Borers in the tip of ears in late summer and fall, \\ inches long when 



full grown, strongly marked, green, brown or nearly black. 



Corn ear worm 

 Grass webwonns (Cram, bus luteolellus Clem, and other 

 species). These occasional pests of young com are dirty yellowish, 

 brown spotted caterpillars about three-fourths of an inch long when 

 full grown. They live in webby shelters about the base of the 

 young plants, feeding upon the lower portion of the leaves and the 

 sta'k but do not bore into the center like the lined com borer, the 

 stalk borer or the European com borer. Ordinarily the depredations 

 of these pests in cultivated fields are limited to portions adjacent 

 to mowings or pastures or to crops planted upon badly infested and 

 recently turned sod. The latter is due to the fact that the grass 

 webworms pass the winter as partly grown caterpillars and when the 

 sod is destroyed they must feed upon whatever else remains upon the 

 soil or perish. There are several species of Crambus having these 

 general habits, the three in New York State most commonly asso- 

 ciated with injury to com being Crambus luteolellus 

 Clem., C. vulgivagellus Clem, and C. trisectus Walk. 

 The adults or moths are known popularly as close-wings and are 

 easily recognized by the somewhat peculiar habit of flying a short 

 distance and alighting on a stem or blade of grass with the wings 

 rather tightly wrapped about the body, hence the common name. 

 These moths are yellowish gray and have a wing spread of approxi- 

 mately one-half of an inch. They are frequently extremely abundant 

 in grass fields and when they are specially ntimerous one season 

 there is considerable danger of injury to com if it be planted upon sod 

 the following year. There are some sections of the State where 

 webworm injury appears, for some reason or other, to be more common 

 than in other parts. 



These grass webworms not only injure corn but occasionally 

 become so extremely abundant as to cause serious damage to grass 

 lands. This was the case in the St Lawrence valley in 1881. At 

 that time extended areas were practically devastated by caterpillars 

 of these inoffensive moths. The same thing occurred, though 

 on a smaller scale, in portions of Albany, Coltunbia and Rensselaer 

 counties in 1905, and in Broome county and probably adjacent areas 

 1 See also page 32 for differences between this pest and a comparatively 

 harmless sinartweed borer occasionally found in nearby growing com. 



