10 
BULLET IX 14*76, U. 
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
of infestation are located (1) at Brooklyn. X. Y. : Staten Island, 
X. Y. : and Little Neck, X. Y. : and (2) in Nelson Township, Madi- 
son County. X. 1 .. respectively. 
DISCOVERY AND DISTRIBUTION IX NEW ENGLAND 
In 1917. when the presence of the European corn borer in the 
United States was first discovered, it was found to be distributed 
over an area of approximately 100 square miles located immediately 
north and northwest of Boston. Mass. According to Vinal {70),. 
who first discovered the presence of the insect and secured its identi- 
fication, the fields of early sweet corn in market gardens 10 or 12 
miles inland were reported by the owners as having been seriously 
injured by this pest for three or four years prior, to 1917. During 
this period, however, the depredator was not recognized as being a 
MAINE ^yv 
77 
Fig. 1. — Map showing area- of European corn-borer infestation in North America as 
known January 1. 1925. A. New England area : B. eastern New York area in 
the vicinirv of Schenectady and Albany ; C. Lake Erie area, including- western 
New York 'and a strip along the lake in Pennsylvania. Ohio, and Michigan : D, 
Canadian area of infestation. Small areas of infestation at Brooklyn. X. Y. ; 
Staten Island. X. Y. ; Little Neck, Long Island ; and Xelson Township, X. Y., 
are also indicated 
foreign pest. Judging by the intensity of the infestation in 1917 and 
by the size of the" area infested at that time, as well as from the 
reports concerning the activity of the pest prior to 1917. Vinal was 
of the opinion that it had been imported about 1910. although realiz- 
ing that this was only a conjecture. The investigations since 1917 
have indicated that VinaPs estimate was probably very nearly correct. 
although the exact date is still unknown. 
In 1916 specimens of dahlia stems infested by lepidopterous larvae 
were sent to the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station 
from three localities near Boston. Mass. Adults were reared from 
this material, but their identity as P. nuhUalis was not established 
until after adults had been reared from sweet corn by Vinal in 1917. 
At the end of 1924 a total of 5.661 square miles was known to be 
infested by the European corn borer in this eastern New England 
area (see map. fig. 1). as shown by Mr. Worthley's field scouts, 
including eastern Massachusetts, the adjoining portion of New 
