SOME INSECT ENEMIES OF CORN 
3 
Injury Caused 
Wireworms do their greatest injury to corn when it is planted in newly broken 
sod land. While they are feeding on the abundant vegetation of grass lands the 
damage to the corn is seldom noticed, but when forced to concentrate on the com- 
paratively few plants of a cornfield the effect of their work is soon apparent. The 
second year’s planting suffers more than the first, because the grass roots in the 
soil which furnish food for many of the wireworms during the first season have de- 
cayed by the second season, forcing the wireworms to attack the corn. 
Methods of Control 
If old sod infested by wireworms is to be broken up, the plowing, followed by a 
thoro harrowing, should be done in the late summer or early fall. At this time the 
full grown wireworms are in the pupal stage, and are delicate and easily killed. If 
any of the beetles have developed they are sure to be in a somewhat helpless condi- 
tion. In addition to killing some of them directly, the plow and harrow will turn 
many up to the surface and break their earthen cells, so that they will be exposed 
to the weather and to natural enemies. If hogs are allowed to run in the field be- 
fore the plowing is done they will destroy many of the wireworms, as well as white 
grubs, cutworms, and other grass-eating insects. Clean cultivation and a short 
rotation will help to keep the pest in check. Small grain is injured less than corn 
by wireworms, while clover, peas, flax, and buckwheat are riot injured at all. 
If the depredations of wireworms make it necessary to replant corn it might be 
worth while to try the following method of treating seed recommended by the 
Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station, 
Prepare a mixture of road dust and Paris green, using enough of the latter to 
give the mixture a greenish color. Put half a bushel of seed corn, or any amount 
convenient to handle, in a tub, and cover with water as hot as the hands can be 
held in. Dip a stick into tar, then stir it briskly in the corn. Repeat until the corn 
is black. Then take the corn out. of the liquid and put it in the mixture of dust 
and Paris green already prepared. Stir the corn until all the kernels have a coating 
of the dust. When dry it is ready for the planter. It is claimed that this treat- 
ment will not prevent the germination of the seed and will repel wireworms. 
THE SEED-CORN MAGGOT 
The seed-corn maggot frequently destroys seed corn in the ground. It pene- 
trates the kernel, killing the germ or the growing shoot and often hollows out the 
interior. 
The full-grown maggot is about a quarter -of an inch long. The posterior half 
of the body is nearly cylindrical and about as thick as a small pin head. The an- 
terior part tapers to a point. The head is very small. The color is dirty white or 
yellowish. It has no legs. 
Life History 
After reaching its full growth the maggot becomes shorter and thicker, the 
skin hardens and becomes reddish brown in color, forming a barrel-shaped case 
about one-fifth of an inch long, in which the larva transforms to a pupa. From 
this stage it transforms to a fly which resembles a house fly but is sma^er, being 
about one-fifth of an inch in length. It is brownish gray with black hairs and bristles. 
Methods of Control 
As injury often occurs where stable manure has been turned under, it has been 
suggested that the flies may be attracted to it to lay their eggs. Therefore it seems 
advisable to apply the stable manure the previous fall or long enough before 
