Images are welcome, but please remember that they must be fully cited and be used to further your explanation. The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubialis, is one of the major corn pests. The larvae begin tunneling into the stalks about 10 days after hatching, so application of pesticides must be when egg masses are noticed. Chemical insecticides can be used cost effectively to control the damage to both young and older corn plants by the European corn borer. An environmental impact of chemical pesticides used to control the European corn borer is the death of nearly all the caterpillars within the crop area during the treatment period.
Genetic engineering is another way to protect corn crops from damage by the European corn borer.
A special Bt-corn is produced by inserting genes from the bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis. These genes are responsible for the production of a toxin that kills the European corn borer. In the 80 million acres of corn planted in the U.S. this year, almost 22 million acres will be Bt-corn. In a recent article from, researchers at Cornell University in New York have discovered that nearly half of the Monarch caterpillars who were fed on milkweed leaves dusted with the pollen from genetically engineered Bt-corn die. In this experiment conducted by John E. Losey, a Cornell entomologist, the amount of pollen added to the milkweed leaves was similar to the amounts found on milkweed plants near cornfields during the pollen production by the corn.