European corn borer
The European corn borer is a small moth with yellowish brown wings and dark wavy bands. Its caterpillar is the famous part: it chews tunnels right through corn plants. That is how it got the name borer.
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Fun facts
It was first found in North America in 1917, in Massachusetts.
Its caterpillars spend the winter as caterpillars and start growing again when it gets warmer than 10 degrees.
The males are a bit smaller and darker than the females.
The moths are busiest just before sunrise.
Mothers lay their eggs in overlapping clusters, like tiny roof tiles, under corn leaves.
Most asked questions about European corn borer
?What does the European corn borer eat?
Its caterpillars eat corn, tunnelling into the stalks and cobs.
?Is the European corn borer harmful?
Not to people, but its caterpillars damage corn crops.
?How big is the European corn borer?
The moth is about 2.5 centimetres long with wings about 3 centimetres across.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Ostrinia nubilalis
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Crambidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Crambidae
- Lives on
- Europe, North America
- Also known as
- European corn worm, European high-flyer
Where the facts come from
- European corn borer (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Syrio. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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