The insect is native to Europe, originally infesting varieties of millet, including broom corn.

The European corn borer was first reported in North America in 1917 in Massachusetts, but was probably introduced from Europe several years earlier.

[2] Since its initial discovery in the Americas, the insect has spread into Canada and westwards across the United States to the Rocky Mountains.

The European corn borer is native to Europe and was introduced to North America in the early 20th century.

In North America, the European corn borer is found in eastern Canada and every U.S. state east of the Rocky Mountains.

The length of the pupal stage is determined by environmental factors such as temperature, number of hours of light, and larval nutrition, in addition to genetics.

[6] The bivoltine populations of European corn borers undergo the pupal stage twice, first in April, May, and June and then again in July and August.

The North American corn crop grows during these warmer months and provides a food source for the borers.

[8] Diapause, also known as hibernation, is induced in European corn borers by changes in temperature and daylight length.

The female lays white eggs which become pale yellow and finally translucent before hatching.

[10] The original European corn borers introduced to North America in the early 20th century established a population in New York.

[11] If presented with the opportunity, female European corn borers, like most moths, mate with multiple males in a reproductive strategy known as polyandry.

Furthermore, mating with multiple males ensures that the female receives enough sperm to completely fertilize her eggs.

[16] Production of the specific pheromone blend in females is controlled by a single autosomal factor.

The response to these pheromones in the olfactory cells of male European corn borers is also controlled by a single autosomal factor with two alleles.

Males heterozygous for this autosomal factor exhibited similar neurological responses to both isomers of pheromone.

Finally, response to the pheromone is controlled by two factors, a sex-linked gene on the Z chromosome and another on an autosome.

The cost of producing a spermatophore is relatively low compared to the female investment in oviposition.

Damage to the corn stalk decreases the amount of water and nutrients the plant can transport to the ear.

[21][19] Biological control agents of corn borers include the hymenopteran parasitoid of the genus Trichogramma, the fungus Beauveria bassiana and the protozoa Nosema pyrausta.

This refuge area is necessary is to prevent the European corn borer and other pests from developing resistance to the Bt gene.

Insects who feed on the non-Bt crops will not develop resistance, but will continue to mate with any moths that survive after eating the genetically-modified corn.

It is rare for an insect to survive after eating Bt corn, but when these resistant individuals mate with moths from the refuge area, the offspring they produce will still be susceptible to the toxin.

[25] With the increase in temperature associated with climate change, it is predicted that the habitable region of the European corn borer will expand.