SOME INSECT ENEMIES OF CORN 
7 
to destructive agencies. If any of the eggs hatch, the young will die unless the 
ants are able to take care of them, which is unlikely if the soil is repeatedly disturbed. 
Frequent cultivation will also destroy smartweeds, foxtail grass, and other weeds 
upon which the root-lice feed before the corn is up. 
THE WESTERN CORN ROOT-WORM 
,Corn growing on land that has been in this same crop for several years in suc- 
cession is sometimes injured by corn root-worms, which at first eat the smaller roots 
entirely and afterwards enter the larger roots, where they make longitudinal bur- 
^ rows beneath the outer layers. By peeling or splitting the roots one may often find 
the worm in the burrow. 
In cases of slight injury the effect may be seen in the production of small ears. 
Greater injury is seen in dwarfed stalks or the absence of ears. If growing on 
rich loam the loss of the roots may cause the stalk to be blown over easily. 
Life History 
The worm, or larva, when full grown is about two-fifths of an inch long and 
one-tenth of an inch thick. It is white except the head, the top of the first segment 
of the body, and a part of the last segment, which are brown. Each of the first 
three segments behind the head has a pair of short legs. 
After completing their growth the larvae abandon the corn roots and construct 
earthen cells in the soil in which they change to white pupae, and then, during 
August, to adult beetles. The beetles are at first yellow in color, afterwards becom- 
ing grass-green. They are about one-fifth of an inch long; and similar in size and 
shape to the common striped cucumber beetle. They may be seen during August 
and September feeding at first on the silks and pollen of corn and later on the 
pollen of various weeds and of clover, beans, squashes, and cucumbers. The eggs 
are deposited in the soil in corn fields and hatch the next spring. 
Fig. 5. Western Corn Root-Worm (Forbes) Fig. 6. Cutworm, Two Stages 
Three stages, much enlarged. Egg much more enlarged. 
Corn root broken to show worm within. 
