SOME INSECT ENEMIES OF CORN 
5 
Life History 
The grubs may be found if they are there by examining the soil around and under 
the roots. They are thick-bodied, strongly curved, dirty white, from an inch to 
an inch and a half long. Most farmers recognize them, but perhaps many do not 
know that the grubs require at least two years to complete their growth, and that 
they eventually transform into the common brown May beetles, or June bugs, which 
fly about at night in the spring and early summer. The beetles feed on the foliage 
of various trees at night and hide in the soil during the day. The eggs are laid in 
the soil, preferably in grass lands, altho sometimes in cornfields. 
Fig. 3. White Grub, Pupa and Adults (Div. Ent. U. S. D. A.) 
Methods of Control 
There is no remedy that can be applied while the grubs are working on the 
corn, so one must use preventive measures. 
Since grass lands, if allowed to run too long, furnish excellent breeding-places 
for white grubs, wireworms, and other pests, a system of rotation should be followed 
which includes clover, small grain, or flax, since these crops are not seriously injured 
by the grubs. Old sod land, especially if it is near woods, should be plowed in the 
fall. Hogs are very fond of the grubs and if allowed to root over infested fields will 
destroy great numbers of them. For this reason it is advisable to pasture hogs for 
a considerable time on meadows or pastures before plowing for corn, and the hogs 
should be allowed to run in the field while it is being plowed. 
At the time of plowing the farmer can tell whether or not the land is badly in- 
fested. If thirty or forty grubs are turned out in a furrow a quarter of a mile long, 
the ground should be considered badly infested. If the land is found to be badly 
infested when plowed in the spring, it should not be planted to corn or any other 
hill crop. 
Clean cultivation to keep down grass and weeds is recommended for preventing 
the beetles from laying their eggs in a cornfield. 
