Cutworms
Egg -- The eggs are usually white (becoming darker prior to hatching), round, and 0.5 to 0.75 mm in diameter.
Larva -- If disturbed, the larvae usually curl into a C-shaped ball. Cutworms are fat, smooth, dull-colored caterpillars that measure about 45 mm when fully grown.
Pupa -- Pupae are brown and 15 to 22 mm long.
Host Plants -- Besides field and vegetable crops, cutworms also attack most turf grasses.
Damage -- Many cutworms prefer wilted plant material and sever the plants sometime prior to feeding. Stems are chewed near the soil. Some cutworms climb the host and feed on unopened buds.
Life History -- Cutworms are caterpillars that feed on the stems and leaves of young plants and often cut them off near the soil line, hence their common name. Although there are many important species of cutworms, the black, granulate, and variegated cutworms are the ones most commonly encountered on North Carolina turfgrass.
Each cutworm differs slightly from the others in details of habits and appearance, but their life histories are generally similar. Adults and larvae are nocturnal and hide during the day but may become active on cloudy days. The overwintering forms of cutworms occur in the soil either as pupae or mature larvae. In the spring, the hibernating larvae pupate. Adults begin to appear in the middle of March. Female moths deposit eggs singly or in clusters, and each female can lay as many as 500 eggs. Under optimum conditions, the eggs hatch in 3 to 5 days, and larvae develop in 3 to 4 weeks passing through 6 instars. Pupae mature in 2 weeks during the summer and as many as 9 weeks in the fall. Some of the cutworms can produce as many as four generations each year in North Carolina.
Color plate of black cutworm retreat
