444 MAIZE 



CHAP, to prevent the escape of moths from larva; that are not de- 

 X ' stroyed in tramping. The question of turning the crop into 

 ensilage and fodder as preventive measures raises the whole 

 problem of how best to utilize the maize crop when once it 

 has been produced. A great many possibilities suggest them- 

 selves in this connection. For the present we must be content 

 to follow the methods which promise the greatest measure of 

 success under existing conditions " {Matty, i ). 



412. The Striped Beard -grub or Ear - worm, Heliotliis 

 armiger Hubner. — According to Mr. Claude Fuller (1), Natal 

 Government Entomologist, this insect feeds upon a variety of 

 plants, but especially on maize and kafifir corn. The larva; 

 (" worms ") vary in colour. Those which feed on kaffir corn 

 heads are always dark, generally reddish, resembling the colour 

 of the food-plant. Feeding on the silk ("beard") (Fig. 38) 

 of the maize plant they may be green, brown, or reddish, 

 according to the colour of the silk ; hidden away in the ear 

 they will at times be dark in colour, but more frequently of a 

 pale-pinkish or pinkish-brown. In all cases, however, they 

 are characterized by dark stripes running the full length of the 

 body, and cannot readily be confused with the larva; of the 

 stalk-borer or the cutworms. The striped beard-grub usually 

 pupates in the soil, though the pupa; are occasionally found in 

 the maize stalk or ear (Fig. 166). There are probably three or 

 more generations in a summer, the broods overlapping. They 

 make their appearance earlier than the stalk-borer, the first some- 

 times as early as August, another about the end of January, 

 and yet another during April and May. The earl)/ brood 

 seems to do no conspicuous damage, but the caterpillars which 

 feed upon the beards during February, often cause a lot of 

 injury ; the moths of this brood emerge during April and 

 May ; these are believed to lay eggs almost at once ; the eggs 

 soon hatch and the caterpillars feed and come to full growth 

 and crawl into the soil to pupate, remaining there enclosed in 

 little earthen cocoons, at depths varying from a half to two 

 inches below the surface, and emerging as moths about the 

 month of August in Natal, and perhaps rather later on the 

 High-veld. 



413. Remedies for the Striped Beard-grub. — From the above 

 sketch of the life-history of this insect it is clear that the com- 



