Symptoms of Common Stalk Borer
- Stalk borers tunnel into corn stalks above the soil or climb directly into the whorl resulting in tattered leaves
- Young plants (VE-V3) may be killed by tunneling below the growing point
- On older plants (V4-V8), the leaves will usually discolor, wilt, and die if tunneling is between them and the growing point; often called "dead heart"
- Plants infested after the V8 stage usually show little visible injury
- Non-lethal infestations in early stage plants cause stunting, tillering, delayed development, and increased frequency of barren plants, reducing yield
Dead "heart" (photo above)
Stunted ears (photo above)
Pest ID
- Stalk borer larvae are cream to light brown with a dark purple saddle on the forward half of the body
- Larvae have dark streaks on either side of their heads
- As larvae grow, the purple becomes dilute and faded
- Larvae are about 1/2 inch long when they leave grass and will reach nearly 2 inches at full development before fall
Related Species
Several species share the same habitat and may cause similar looking injury
- Other borers:
European Corn Borer - no purple (photo above)
Corn Earworm - multicolored stripes (photo above)
Hop vine borer - no stripe on side of head, burrows up from root (photo above)
Fall Armyworm - multicolored stripes (photo above)
Southwestern Corn Borer - dark spots, no stripe on side of head (photo above)
Lesser cornstalk borer - purple bands, not striped (photo above)
- Other seedling feeders:
- Billbugs, wireworms, cutworms - see Corn Insect and Disease Guide.
Pest Facts and Impact on Crop
- Latin name: Papaipema nebris
- Native to North America; may be found in most areas east of the Rockies
- Sporadic and infrequent pest of corn; incidence increases with no-till or grass weed infestation
- Highest incidence usually occurs in rows closest to grass field borders, waterways, or terraces with large weeds (e.g., giant ragweed), or in continuous corn
- Development begins in grasses, but larvae move at about 1400-1700 GDU (base 41 F) to larger hosts, including nearby corn
- Primary hosts are: corn, quackgrass, giant ragweed, wirestem muhly, tomato and occasionally soybeans
- Has no known significant natural enemies
Life Cycle
Areas Prone to Common Stalk Borer Injury
Management of Common Stalk Borer
- Tillage or herbicide grass control in the prior fall will reduce ovipositional attractiveness
- Burning grassy field borders before planting may destroy eggs
- Begin scouting at about 1300 GDU (41 F base) accumulation since January 1
- Grassy or weedy field edges, such as shelterbelts, terraces, waterways
- No-till fields with heavy vegetation prior to burn down
- Resistance available
- Use of YieldGard YGCB® may suppress common stalk borer so pesticides are not necessary
- Pesticide use and timing
- Most effective if timed when larva are leaving host plants after a herbicide application
- Maximum 80% effective when used on infested plants, spray only infested areas of the field
- On corn plants below V6, less than 10% infestation may warrant spot treatment, later than V7 nearly 100% of the plants must be infested to warrant treatment
YGCB – The YieldGard® Corn Borer gene offers a high level of resistance to European corn borer, southwestern corn borer and southern cornstalk borer; moderate resistance to corn earworm and common stalk borer; and above average resistance to fall armyworm.
YieldGard®, the YieldGard Corn Borer design and Roundup Ready® are registered trademarks used under license from Monsanto Company.