Aspects of the injuriousness of the maize stalk borer, Busseola fusca (Fuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Through repeated sampling in maize planted on different dates over different seasons in South Africa, it was shown that damage by Busseola fusca (Fuller) to plant parts other than the whorl had an important influence on yield. Damage to plants in the period after tasselling was shown to be important. The number of larvae in the plant was a weak estimator of expected yield losses.