Southwestern Corn Borer Management in Missouri

Abstract

The Diatraea grandiosella Dyar, is a very destructive pest of corn, Zea mays (Linné). It costs American corn growers millions of dollars a year in control expenditures and lower yields. This insect was first reported in the United States in 1913, and it now occurs across the entire southern Corn Belt from Arizona to Georgia. It was first reported in southwest Missouri in 1953 and it later invaded the southeastern or Bootheel counties in 1958.