The Corn Root-worm has done no small amount of damage in Iowa, during the past few years, though for the seasons of 1887 and 1888, its injuries have doubtless been less appreciated owing to the general prevalence of its better known and more generally destructive associate, the Chinch Bug.

Occasional reports, however, show that the territory invaded by it is gradually extending and, unless proper means are adopted there is danger of a very general destruction of our staple crop from its ravages.

In 1884 I published, in a college bulletin, an account of the insect, its habits, and the method to be adopted for its suppression, largely collated from the report of Prof. S. A. Forbes, of Illinois, where the insect had operated very destructively. Since that publication, I have observed the insect both here and in other parts of the state, but these observations only serve to confirm the conclusions already reached, and in the following statements I lay no claim to originality, but believe the importance of the insect to the farmers of the state, is sufficient to justify a restatement of the essential points in its history.