Seed Corn and Maggots

The seed corn maggot is a highly destructive pest to a wide variety of vegetable crops including corn, soy, beans and cucuribits. They are commonly found throughout the United States and southern Canada.

Damage
- Shallowly germinated seeds are less susceptible to seedcorn maggots.
  
  Damage from seedcorn maggots most often occurs during cool, moist springs. Seedcorn maggots feed on the seed of newly-planted crops. They can continue to feed into the stem if the seed should happen to germinate.
Description
- The seedcorn maggot is yellow to white in appearance and approximately 1/4 of an inch in length. They are legless and tough-skinned. Their heads are wedge-shaped.
Control
- Young plants emerging into the cotyledon phase are still suscpetible to seedcorn maggots.
  
  Once the seedcorn maggot has emerged and begun to feed, there is no practical control. You can prevent them by planting seeds treated with an insecticide, which you can also incorporate into the soil media at the time of planting. Seedcorn maggots do their damage when the seeds are young and just starting to development. Any practices that speed up the germination period will help to reduce damage by seedcorn maggots.

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Growing Corn

Seed Corn and Maggots

Damage

Description

Control