Like wireworms, these insects attack the roots of many crops. The larvae of several species of white grubs, which are the immature forms of scarab beetles, may cause injury by feeding on the roots. The eggs are generally laid in grasslands, and damage to crops is, subsequently, greatest when they are planted on land that has recently been taken out of sod. By not planting susceptible crops on newly plowed sod land, most of the injury can be avoided. These general feeders may also attack the roots of lettuce.
Wireworms feed on seeds and roots, producing weak plants.
Several species of wireworms are involved and, like the white grubs, are more injurious to crops planted on soil that is the first or second year out of sod. The corn wireworm, Melanotus communis , or the wheat wireworm, Agriotes mancus, usually occur in heavier organic soils and tend to disappear with continued cultivation. Light sandy soils favor the eastern field wireworm, Limonius agonus . Continued cultivation encourages this species. The presence of wireworms in soil may be detected with baits, such as a cut potato, a mixture of untreated wheat and corn seeds, or rolled oats, buried a few inches deep in the soil, marked with a flag, then dug up 2-3 weeks later.