Northern Corn Rootworm, Diabrotica barberi Smith & Lawrence (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Northern corn rootworm is native to North America. It was first discovered attacking corn in Colorado, in the west-central USA, but has since spread eastward, principally to the corn-growing region in the midwestern states. Range expansion was caused primarily by a change in crop production practices: culture of corn continuously in the same fields. In the United States, northern corn rootworm occurs in the Great Plains region to about North Dakota and Oklahoma, and east to the Atlantic Ocean. As its common name suggests, this insect is largely absent from the south, but is present in Tennessee and the northern regions of Alabama and Georgia. In Canada, northern corn rootworm is found in southern Ontario and Quebec. Northern corn rootworm and western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgiferaLeConte, can both be found in the same fields, but western corn rootworm has displaced northern corn rootworm, or at least reduced its abundance, in some areas. Displacement has been attributed to...