What are those Ugly Worms Doing in My Corn Ears?

The old joke goes like this. A guy is eating in a fancy restaurant. He is given a bowl of soup. He notices a fly in it. He calls the server over. "What is this fly doing in my soup?"
The server leans over, looks at the soup and says, "The backstroke, Sir."

I guess I could be a smart alec when people ask me what that ugly worm is doing in their ear of corn but I won't. It's not very funny.

When you harvest corn and pull down the outer, papery husk, sometimes you will see a worm. If you didn't spray to control them or sprayed at the wrong time or with the wrong spray, you will see LOTS of worms in your corn ears! If you plant sweet corn, you
WILL get corn earworm. Count on it.

 The adult of the corn earworm is a moth. We used to call these moths "Miller moths" when I was a kid. Not sure why.

This is because you didn't spray, didn't spray with the right thing, or  you didn't spray at the right time. A good chemical to use, and it is organic, is Bt. This is a bacterium that causes worms like these, caterpillars of moths, to stop eating within 24 hours after they eat it on the plant and die within about three to four days.

Corn silk which is attached to the kernels of the corn cob. Each silk is attached to a single kernel. The adult corn earworm moth lays eggs on these silks. The eggs hatch and the corn earworm larva moves into the ear of corn where it feeds.

The bacterium must be present on the plant part they are eating and the bacterium must be applied right after the corn plant begins to silk. So start applying Bt as soon as you see the silk forming. You must repeat this spray about every four days. Read the label of your Bt product to get the details.