BULLETIN OF THE 
No. 5 
Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology, L. O. Howard, Ch 
September 27, 1913. 
THE SOUTHERN CORN ROOTWORM, OR 
BUDWORM. 
By F. M. Webster, 
In Charge of Cereal and Forage Insect Investigations. 
DISTRIBUTION. 
The parent of the southern corn rootworm (Diabrotica duodecim- 
punctata Oliv.), or. as it is often termed, the budworm, is a yellow 
or greenish-yellow beetle having 12 black spots on the back, as shown 
in figure 1, a, from 
which its specific name, 
meaning " 12-spbtted," 
is derived. It is closely 
allied to the almost 
equally common striped 
cucumber beetle (Dia- 
brotica vittata Fab.), 
and also to the parent 
of the even more de- 
structive western corn 
rootworm (Diabrotica 
longieornis Say). 
Throughout the coun- 
try east of the Eocky 
Mountains, extending 
from southern Canada 
southward to Xorth 
Carolina, Tennessee, 
Arkansas, and Oklahoma, these 12-spotted and striped beetles to- 
gether frequent squashes and pumpkins, often collecting in num- 
bers in the blossoms. The 12-spotted species during late summer and 
fall also frequents, often in conspicuous numbers, the flowers of the 
various species of goldenrod (Solidago). 
The larvae (fig. 1, c) do not generally attack growing corn in suf- 
ficient numbers to cause any considerable injury 7 , except perhaps 
6134° — 13 
Fig. 1. — The southern corn rootworm (Diabrotica duo- 
decimpunctata) : a. Beetle; b, egg; c, larva; d, anal 
segment of larva ; e, work of larva at base of corn- 
stalk ; f, pupa. All much enlarged, except e, reduced. 
(Reengraved after Riley, except f, after Chittenden.) 
