The corn borer is the most economically important maize pest in Europe. It was was brought to North America from Europe around 1910.

Corn borer larvaeThe first larvae of these microlepidoptera feed on maize leaves and then drill into the stem and the cob of the maize plant. In cooler, temperate climates common in Europe, the corn borer completes only one generation per year. Larvae hibernate in maize stubble, pupating in the spring.

The corn borer is widely distributed throughout Europe, northern Africa, and in America.

Adult corn borerThere are several strategies for corn-borer control:

• Spraying chemical insecticides
• Biological control: Trichogramma (ichneumon flies)
• Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin, either in the form of preparations applied externally as a spray or the transgenic introduction of the Bt gene into maize plants