Cutworm: The uninvited guest of our garden

 

Cutworms as their name suggests cut down young plants as they feed on stems. Young seedlings are very susceptible to cutworm feeding. 

Identification:

Cutworms are smooth with very few hairs on the surface and are about two inches when fully grown. When they are disturbed they roll into a tight 'C' shape.

Different species of cutworms are known and they can look different from one another and they can range from brown or tan to pink, green or grey, and black color. Some species of cutworms are a uniform color while others are spotted or striped.

Cutworms complete only one generation in a year and they generally overwinter as eggs or larvae depending on the climate of the region. The larva emerges from eggs during April or early May, and young larvae feed at night on crops and weeds. Larvae molt six times and the size of the larva increases with each instar. Cutworm damage is most noticeable in crops during the months of May-June. Cutworms complete their development in late June and pupate in the deeper layer of soil by making a small pupal chamber. Adult brown color moths emerge from August through early September.

Damage Symptoms:

Cutworms damage the plant by cutting plant stems at the base. They primarily feed on the roots and stems of young plants. In general, entire plants will be destroyed; they do a lot of damage in no time at all. In the summer, cutworms sometimes can crawl to the tops of plants feed on the foliage, and damage the whole plants.

Heavy infestation can reduce the plant population drastically within 1-2 days. Cutworms are night feeders and hide themselves during the day under clods of soil or in burrows below the soil surface

Management:

Tilling the soil before planting will kill all of the larvae that are overwintering in the soil.

Using plant collars around the young plants will prevent damage.

Hand-picking the worms during the night and killing them.

Application Bacillus thuringiensis in the garden

Chemicals like cyfluthrin and permethrin, which have medium to long residual effects can effectively control the cutworms.