CLAY-BACKED CUTWORM

A, Cabbage plant damaged by cutworm. B, Tomato with a, adult moth; b, larva feeding on stem; c, larva in ground; d, pupa. (All about natural size.)

CLAY-BACKED CUTWORM

Cutworms cut off and eat young transplants. They are the young of dull-colored, night-flying moths. Each female moth may lay 200 to 1,500 eggs in sod, weedy land, or cultivated fields. The eggs hatch in a few days. The young cutworms feed greedily. When mature they burrow into the soil and change through the pupal stage to adult moths. There are several dozen common kinds of cutworms. Some have only one generation a year. Others have as many as three or four. Some over-winter as pupae. Others overwinter as cutworms. They differ widely in feeding habits. Some feed like other caterpillars in armies or alone, but most kinds prefer to hide in or near the soil during the day and feed at night. Generally they eat almost any kind of tender plant.

The clay-backed cutworm is generally distributed east of the Rocky Mountains. It has only one generation a year and passes the winter as a partly grown caterpillar. When the first plants are set out in the spring it cuts them off just above the soil surface at night and drags them to its burrow nearby for later feeding. The clay-backed cutworm reaches maturity in late spring, remains inactive during the hot summer, and pupates during the early fall. The adult moths emerge in the fall and lay eggs in grassy fields.

Control: Apply poison bait prepared by thoroughly mixing 1 pound of sodium fluosilicate with 25 pounds of wheat bran and moistening with water. Paris green may be substituted for the sodium fluosilicate. Prepare the bait in the morning and apply it late in the day so that it will be moist and attractive when the cutworms begin to feed in the evening. Scatter the bait lightly and evenly on the soil surface or around the transplants.

Dusting with 5 percent DDT is often effective, particularly if the dust is worked into the surface of the soil.