Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-11-03
CORN WORM BUSY
IN SOUTH DAKOTA
Professor Wheeler Classics
the Pest and Discusses
Remedies.
ALL OvER NORTHWEST
II Is Stated That Fall Flowing Tends
to Decrease Numbers by Elk
posing Pupa to Severe Cold
of Winter.

Bookings, S. D., Oct. 24.-Professor
w. A. Wheeler, botanist Of the Brook
ings agricultural college, says Of the
corn worm: The worm which has
caused so serious damage to the corn
crop in South Dakota n the neigh
boring states this year is known under
various names depending upon the
plant which it attacks. 1t is known as
the corn worm, the corn ear Worm,
the cotton boil worm, tomato fruit,
worm, tobacco bud worm or the false
bud worm Of the tobacco, and by war;
lou other names. The pest has var
ious food plants, the most common Of
which are, however, corn, cotton, to-
mato and tobacco. These four crops
are often very seriously injured by it's
attacks. 1t also feeds upon the pump
kin, melon, squash, red pepper, ground
cherry, bean, pea, as well as upon some
of our cultivated ornamental plants as.
the gladiolus, mignonette, geranium,
etc.
1t will be difficult to find an insect
more widely distributed than is the.
corn worm. 1t has been found in every
quarter Of the globe, therefore no To-
calities In which any plants upon which
it feeds are grown can be considered
immune from It's attack. In the United
States it is very well distributed, hay
ing been reported from the Canadian
boundary to Texas and from the At
lantic coast to California.
In the Northwest.
In South Dakota and Minnesota the
worm is coming to be quite commonly.
known because of it's injuries to the.
corn crop. This year it seems TO be To-
cally very abundant in the corn fields
of South Dakota. It's injuries are most
apparent late In the season, when It
attacks the ears of the corn after they
appear. The worm does not, however,
limit itself to the ears, but earlier in
the season attacks the buds, young
leaves and tassels. AS soon as the ears
appear the worms enter the tip of the
ear and feed upon the silks and young
corn. The silk is sometimes eaten at
the time Of ~pollination, before fertiliZa-
ton of the kernels can take place, thus
often preventing portions Of the ear
from filling out. The worm continues
feeding upon the ears of the corn until
they are mature or until time for the
worms to enter the ground and go'into
the chrysalis stage for winter.
The color of the worm varies with
it's exposure to light and also with the
kind of plant or the condition Of the
plant on which 1t feeds. 1t may be
found in all variations Of color from a
light green without spots or stripes to
a very marked striped worm some
times appearing almost black. In the
northern states the insect probably
very seldom has more han w broods
or generations in a single season. The
mature insect is q medium-sized moth,
This moth lays its eggs at twilight upon
any portion of the plant.
No Known Remedy.
From the above brief outline of the
insect and it's life-history it will be
seen that practical remedies 70 combat
this insect are hard to find. In fact no
good remedy is known. Very late fall
blowing of infested corn fields TO dis
turb the insects in the pupa stage and
expose them TO the severe winter
weather may tend to lessen the num-.
bers the following season. Unless this
were done almost universally in the IN
tested localities it would not nave any
very perceptible effect the following
season. Rotation of crops which would
bring some crop upon which this worm.
did not feed upon the ground to follow
the corn might be beneficial.