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Download winter cutworm7/7/2023 Caterpillars cut off small plants at or near the soil surface and feed on them during the night. In the spring when gardens and fields and plowed and planted, caterpillars that were feeding on weeds and other host plants move to young plants and transplants. Like other species, it spends the winter months as a partially grown larva in the soil, feeding of weeds and grasses at night. The granulate cutworm is a surface-feeding cutworm. Habitat and Food Source(s): Caterpillars have chewing mouthparts. There may be three to five generations per year in central and south Texas, depending on weather conditions and temperature. After emerging from the pupa (cocoon), mated female moths deposit eggs that hatch into larvae (caterpillars) which develop through several larval stages (instars) before pupating in the soil. Life Cycle: The winter is spent in the larval stage. This is a generic term and the moths are often in the family Noctuidae which includes cutworms, armyworms, bollworm and many other species. Adult moths that are about one to two inches in size are often referred to as “millers” or miller moths. It can be very numerous and a nuisance in buildings. The army cutworm overwinters in the mountains of west Texas as adults. There are four major groups of cutworms based on habitat and feeding behavior:ġ) subterranean cutworms, such as the pale western cutworm, Agrotis orthogonia (Morrison), that feed almost entirely below the soil surface on roots and underground stems Ģ) tunnel dwellers such as the black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel), which cuts a tender plant at the soil surface, pulls it into the tunnel and devours the plant ģ) surface feeders such as the granulate cutworm and the army cutworm, Euxoa auxiliaris (Grote) andĤ) climbing cutworms such as the variegated cutworm, Peridroma saucia (Hübner), which can devour the spring buds of grapes. They have a wing spread of 1 to 2 inches. Adults are dingy, grayish-brown moths marked with light or dark spots on the wings. When disturbed, the caterpillars curl up tightly into a C shape. They are active at night and spend the day under debris on the soil away from light. A cutworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), on corn.ĭescription: Caterpillars are dingy, grayish-black and smooth-skinned that may reach 1 ½ inch in length.
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