Maize / Corn

Zea mays

Cultivated Maize at Eldoret, Kenya. July 2014. The lower image shows a maize ear damged by tunneling moth larvae.

Earwig

Feed on pollen and at injuries.

Sap Beetle

Enters areas damaged by other bugs.

Hairy Horseweed

Cattle don't eat this plant.

Maize has been bred to produce prodigious quantities of edible product. In addition the soil is normally enhanced with chemical or natural fertilizers. Insects and weeds are bound to find such conditions very amenable to their own reproductive efforts. The result of course represents unwanted pests to the farmer. I here present some of the organisms that inhabit maize fields in Kenya. Follow the thumb images for additional images and information.

Insects and Weeds

Granary Weevil Feeds in broken kernals.	Root Weevil Chews holes in unfurled leaves.
Spanish Needles Black Jack seeds cling to cloths.	Dayflower Broken stems root and make new weeds.
Three-corner Nut Sharp seeds make it painful to pull out.	Aspilia Appears mostly after harvest.
Catchfly Weed at sunny spots & edges.	Creeping Wood-Sorrel Roots freely from stem nodes.
Common Purslane Weed or inter-crop vegetable?	Corn Grey Leaf Spot Foliar Pathogen of Maize
Long-legged Fly Beneficial Perhaps	Wolf Spider A Helpful Predaceous Arthropod

Poaceae -- Grass Family

More Information:

• Wikipedia
• Google Images
• Google Scholar Literature Search