THE SO-CALLED 



"curlew BUG." 



65 



As will be observed, this method of hibernation is of the greatest 

 importance from an economic standpoint, because hibernation in the 

 lower stalk or roots would bring the inhabitants within reach by pull- 

 ing up and burning these stalks during the winter or early spring. 

 For data on the larger corn stalk-borer see Circular No. 116 of the 

 Bureau of Entomol- 

 ogy, entitled " The 

 Larger Corn Stalk- 

 Borer." 



The beetles prob- 

 ably come forth from 

 their hibernation 

 quarters quite early in 

 spring, as soon as the 

 ground has become 

 permanently warm 

 from the spring tem- 

 perature. Mr. Kelly 

 found them under 

 cornstalks of the pre- 

 vious year at Whites- 

 boro, Tex., April 13, 

 1910. They evidently 

 feed for a considerable 

 time by puncturing 

 the lower part of the 

 stems of the plants. 

 These punctures are 

 quite different from 

 the egg punctures, 

 and the effect is often 

 not so fatal as that oc- 

 casioned by the down- 

 ward burrow ing of the 

 larva. These punc- 

 tures are usually made 

 about or a little below 

 the surface of the 

 ground, the beetle evidently searching for a point where the stem is 

 tender and succulent. 



If the punctures are made lower down on the plant, just above the 

 root, the result is a throwing up of a number of tillers or suckers 

 from the roots, the main stem itself having a stalky appearance, with 

 the result that no ears are produced. In this respect the effect pro- 

 duced resembles to a degree that of an attack of the Hessian fly on a 

 young wheat plant in the fall. This unusual development of tillers 



Fig. 21. — The "curlew bug:" a, Corn plant attacked by adult in- 

 sect; b, egg as placed in stem of young corn plant, enlarged at 

 left; c, pupa and adult in root of corn in chamber eaten out by 

 the larva, slightly reduced. (Original.) 



