Subject: Bugs eating my corn
Geographic location of the bug: Illinois – USS
Date: 06/30/2019
Time: 11:45 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Growing corn for years and this had never been an issue. Two types of bugs have destroyed all my corn in my garden.
How you want your letter signed: Emilia
Dear Emilia,
Not every insect found on your corn plants is injurious to your crop. The image with the smaller beetles does not have enough detail for us to provide an identification, but the beetles in two of your images are Margined Leatherwings, Chauliognathus marginatus, and according to BugGuide: “Adult feeds on pollen and nectar; also predatory. Larva is predatory, known to attack corn earworm and corn borer.” This is actually a beneficial insect on your corn plants. The damage that is visible to the ears of corn in the images you provided does not look to us like it was caused by insects. We suspect rodents or some other larger creature is eating your corn at night, and that the Margined Leatherwings were accused of the damage through circumstantial evidence by merely being present at the scene of the crime.
