EENY155 Lesser Cornstalk Borer, Elasmopalpus lignosellus (Zeller) (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) 1 Harsimran K. Gill, John L. Capinera and Robert McSorley 2 1. This document is EENY-155, one of a series of Featured Creatures from the Entomology and Nematology Department UF/IFAS Extension. Published: September 2000. Revised November 2005 and September 2008. Reviewed August 2014. This document is also available on Featured Creatures website at http://entomology.ifas.ul.edu/creatures. Please visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ul.edu. 2. Harsimran K. Gill, John L. Capinera, and Robert McSorley (retired), Entomology and Nematology Department, UF/IFAS Extension, Gainesville, FL 32611. The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or ailiations. For more information on obtaining other UF/IFAS Extension publications, contact your county’s UF/IFAS Extension oice. U.S. Department of Agriculture, UF/IFAS Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A & M University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, dean for UF/IFAS Extension. Introduction he lesser cornstalk borer, Elasmopalpus lignosellus (Zeller), was described by Zeller in 1848, but it was not considered of economic importance until 1881 (Riley 1882). It is a pest of several economically important crops. Distribution he lesser cornstalk borer (LCB) occurs widely in the western hemisphere and is known from much of the southern United States. Despite its wide distribution, damage is limited principally to crops in sandy soil (Metcalf et al. 1962), so it tends to cause injury in the coastal plain of the southeastern states from South Carolina to Texas. While more oten observed in the southeastern United States, this pest species is sporadic in nature and distributed from Maine to southern California. It was irst discovered outside the continental U.S. in July 1986 infesting sugarcane in Kauai (Hawaii) (Chang and Ota 1987). his species is also found in Mexico, Central America, and South America (Luginbill and Ainslie 1917). Description and Life Cycle here are three to four generations annually in the south- east, but in the southwest there are only three generations annually. Activity extends from June to November, with the generations overlapping considerably and little evidence of breaks between generations. Overwintering apparently occurs in the larval and pupal stage, and diapause is not present. A complete life cycle usually requires 30 to 60 days. Eggs: he eggs are oval, measuring about 0.6 mm in length and 0.4 mm in width. When irst deposited, they are greenish, soon turning pinkish, and eventually reddish. he female deposits nearly all her eggs below the soil surface adjacent to plants. A few, however, are placed on the surface or on leaves and stems. Duration of the egg stage is two to three days. A single female can oviposit about 200 eggs (Capinera 2001), with a report of up to 420 eggs (Biddle et al. 1992). Female moths oviposit eggs in late summer and fall in Kentucky (Bessin 2004), while in Florida, we observed heavy oviposition in spring and early summer. Larvae: Larvae are strong and active when disturbed and wiggle violently so that in some countries it is called the jumping borer (Schaaf 1974). Larvae live in the soil, constructing tunnels from soil and excrement tightly woven together with silk. hey leave the tunnel to feed in the basal stalk area or just beneath the soil surface, returning and constructing new tunnels as they mature. hus, tunnels oten radiate out from the stem of the food source, just below the soil surface. Normally there are six instars, but the number of instars can range from ive to nine depending on environmental conditions (Biddle et al. 1992). During the early instars,