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European Corn Borer

European Corn Borer

Ostrinia nubilalis

Insectalso: Corn borer, ECB

A widespread moth whose caterpillars bore into the stalks and ears of corn and also attack peppers, snap beans, and potatoes. By tunneling inside the plant they weaken stalks, break tassels, and open ears and pepper fruit to rot, often feeding out of sight until the damage is done.

🔎 How to spot it

The adult is a pale moth roughly an inch across with wavy yellow-brown lines on the wings, the males darker than the females. Eggs are laid in overlapping masses that look like fish scales on the underside of leaves. Young larvae are tiny and translucent with brown heads; mature larvae are flesh-colored, up to about an inch long, with a dark head and two small dark spots on each segment. Early signs are neat rows of shot-holes across young leaves where larvae fed in the whorl, later followed by sawdust-like frass at stalk and ear entry points.

🥀 Damage it causes

Larvae chew rows of holes in young leaves, then bore into stalks, tassels, ear shanks, and the ears themselves, as well as into pepper and bean fruit. Tunneling collapses stalks, breaks tassels, drops ears, and lets rot organisms in. In peppers the borers tunnel into the fruit near the cap, causing it to rot and drop.

🛡️ Prevent it

Shred and turn under or remove old corn stalks and stems after harvest to destroy the larvae that overwinter inside them. Plant so the most vulnerable stage does not line up with peak moth flights where that is known locally. Encourage the many natural enemies, and scout the whorl and emerging tassels so problems are caught while larvae are still exposed.

🧯 If it is already here

Control has to hit the young larvae while they are still feeding on the surface, before they bore in where sprays cannot reach. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) applied to the whorl and silks targets them with minimal harm to beneficials. Releases or conservation of Trichogramma egg parasitoids and predators such as lady beetles and minute pirate bugs also reduce numbers.

💡 Good to know

Once a borer is inside the stalk or ear it is protected, so timing against the small, exposed larvae is the whole game. In a home garden, fall cleanup of corn and pepper debris plus well-timed Bt usually keeps this pest manageable.

🌱 Plants it attacks

101 plants in the library can be attacked by this pest

Adirondack Blue PotatoAdzuki BeanAji Amarillo Pepper🥔All Blue PotatoAmbrosia CornAmish Paste TomatoAnaheim PepperBanana PepperBeauregard Sweet Potato🍅Beefmaster TomatoBetter Boy Tomato🍅Big Beef TomatoBig Boy TomatoBlack BeanBlack Beauty EggplantBlack Cherry TomatoBlack Krim TomatoBlue Lake Green Bean🍅Box Car Willie TomatoBrandywine TomatoBroad Windsor Fava BeanCafe au Lait DahliaCannellini BeanCarolina Reaper PepperCayenne PepperCelebrity TomatoCherokee Purple TomatoCranberry BeanCubanelle PepperEarly Girl TomatoElberta PeachFairy Tale EggplantFingerling PotatoFordhook 242 Lima BeanFresno PepperGerman Butterball Potato🍅German Queen TomatoGhost PepperGolden Bantam CornGreen Bell PepperGreen Zebra TomatoHabanero PepperHollyhockHungarian Wax PepperIndigo Rose TomatoItalian EggplantJalapeño PepperJapanese EggplantJuliet Grape TomatoKarma Choc DahliaKellogg's Breakfast TomatoKennebec PotatoKentucky Wonder Pole BeanKidney Bean🍅La Roma IV TomatoLemon Boy TomatoMammoth Sunflower🍅Mortgage Lifter TomatoMr. Stripey TomatoMung BeanNavy BeanNorland PotatoOrange Bell PepperPadrón PepperPimento PepperPineapple TomatoPinto BeanPoblano PepperPopcornProCut Sunflower🌱Provider Bush BeanPurple Bell PepperPurple Dome New England Aster🥔Purple Majesty PotatoPurple TomatilloRed Bell PepperRed Noodle Yardlong BeanRed Pontiac PotatoRoma TomatoRomano Bean🍆Rosa Bianca EggplantRusset Potato🍅Rutgers TomatoSan Marzano TomatoScarlet Runner BeanScotch Bonnet PepperSerrano PepperShishito PepperSilver Queen Corn🍅Striped German Tomato🍅Sungold Cherry TomatoSweet 100 Cherry TomatoSweet Banana PepperThai Chili Pepper🍅Tiny Tim Cherry TomatoToma Verde TomatilloTorch Mexican SunflowerTrinidad Scorpion PepperYellow Bell PepperYellow Pear Tomato

For educational and informational purposes only. Pest control advice is general guidance drawn from university cooperative extension sources; always identify a pest positively and read and follow the label on any product before use, especially around food crops, children, and pets.