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most manifestly, if not mainly, during the spring of the year, while 
the plants are quite young; andit is acommon observation of farmers, 
throughout Georgia at least, that the plants on low, wet soils are much 
more seriously damaged than corn planted on uplands. The extent 
and nature of the injury may vary, but the most usual symptom of the 
work of the larve is in the wilting and falling over of the central 
leaves, or ‘* bud,” of the plant, and later becoming brown and dry. 
Plants showing this appearance when examined are almost invariably 
found to have been bored into at the base of the stem in such a way 
that the central and vital part of the plant has been more or less cut 
free from the tissue below. This wilting and dying of the central roll 
of leaves of the corn plant bas doubtless suggested the term ‘* bud 
worm,” by which name the larvee seem to be very generally designated. 
Other terms, as ‘‘bill bug” and ‘‘wire worm,” are less frequently 
used in speaking of this insect. The recognized English name, the 
Southern corn root-worm, as used by entomologists, I have never 
heard used by planters. 
Not all plants showing the wilted ‘‘ bud” have necessarily been 
injured by the Southern corn root-worm, as in frequent cases wire- 
worms have been found to be the cause of the trouble. Less usually 
the white ant, probably Zermes flavipes, has been found to have eaten 
into the stem near the surface of the ground, chewing out relatively 
large cavities. Injury from white ants has been most common in 
fields planted to cotton the previous year, and the decaying stalks on 
the ground have in most cases been close to or in contact with the 
infested corn plant. 
Prof. F. M. Webster was probably the first to indicate the injurious 
character of these larve on corn, in the Report of the Secretary of 
Agriculture for 1887 (p. 148). Mr. Webster’s observations were 
made in Louisiana, and while from the article referred to it is not 
apparent whether the larve observed were actually bred into the 
adult condition or not, there can be no reasonable doubt from his 
description of the larve and their injury but that these were larve of 
Diabrotica 12-punctata. 
There is good reason to believe, however, that this insect has been 
injurious to corn, in Georgia at least, many years before we find any 
reference to it in the literature of economic entomology. Several 
different Georgia farmers, who are quite familiar with the larve and 
their work, affirm that they have known the ‘‘ bud worm” ever since 
they can remember, which in some instances could reasonably be 
expected to extend back over a period of at least fifty years. 
The years 1889 and 1890 witnessed a rather general outbreak of 
this insect, and the injury to corn attracted attention over quite a 
large area of country, including IJlinois, Indiana, Ohio, and most of 
the Southern States. This outbreak was the occasion of a careful 
