4 
insects, the white grubs, the corn root worms, and the root aphis, 
affecting the roots; the cut-worms and root web-worms, the 
army worm, the stalk-borer, the corn worm, the bill bugs, the 
chinch bug, the corn flea-beetle, and the grasshoppers, injuring 
stalk and leaf; the corn worm, the corn root worms, and the 
grasshoppers, eating the flower structures and the ear; and the 
meal-moth and the weevils devouring the kernel in the granary 
or the meal in the bin. Of these, by far the worst at present 
are the wireworms, the corn root worms, the white grubs, the 
root lice, the cutworms, the chinch bug, the grasshoppers, and 
the army worm. 
These major injuries have naturally received here the greatest 
share of attention, but a discussion of the minor and insignifi¬ 
cant injuries which at first blush seem to have little or no agri¬ 
cultural importance, will nevertheless be of practical utility as 
indicating the probabilities with reference to the amount of in¬ 
jury to be anticipated when these minor attacks are noticed. 
For convenience of treatment, the general subject of insect in¬ 
juries to corn will be divided, in discussion, into those to the 
seed, the root, the stalk, the leaf, the blossom, the ear, and the 
stored grain, whole and ground. 
The most serious ordinary injuries to corn, those which the 
plant is least able to sustain, are injuries to the seed and 
root, particularly those occurring early in the year; but they 
are, fortunately, those against which precautionary or preventive 
measures may be most readily taken, and with the best effect, 
GENERAL INDICATIONS OF INJURY. 
I 
Before beginning a description of injuries to each part of the 
plant, a few practical hints may be given which will aid to a 
recognition of insect attack from the general aspect of the field 
or from the appearance of the entire plant. 
1. If corn largely fails to appear in due time after planting, 
the farmer need not content himself with a surmise that his 
seed was poor or that the weather has been unfavorable, but 
should examine the seed itself for evidence of the work of one 
of several insects ( wireworms , seed-corn maggots , grass mag¬ 
gots , etc.) attacking it in the earth. 
2. If the young plants make an unequal start, some hills ap¬ 
pearing earlier and growing more thriftily than others at the 
very first, the roots should be searched for the corn root louse; 
and even those hills should be examined in which the corn has 
not yet come up, as this louse sometimes infests the sprouting 
plant before it appears above ground. 
3. The abundant occurrence of ants in the corn field, sinking 
their burrows among the stalks of the hill, is evidence of the 
presence of the corn root louse in their company. 
