Black Cutworm
Kevin Ganoe, Area Field Crop Specialist
Central New York Dairy and Field Crops
Starting to see some black cutworm activity around the state and I found this one digging around a corn field yesterday with several plants cutoff. I and others have been finding significant moth catches in our pheromone traps so there are certainly adults around to lay eggs.
Black cutworm feeding may include a plant cutoff or the top part of the plant dragged back down into the soil. Plants may also appear wilted with feeding taking place below the soil surface. A good time to dig around where plants appear to be missing.
Any corn field could have black cutworms but some fields tend to be more at risk:
fall plowed - problem less likely
late spring plowed - problem more likely
corn following beans - problem more likely
late planted - problem more likely
minimum tillage - problem more likely
Reference: https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/fieldcropsipm/insects/black-cutworms.php
Threshold is 5% or greater of plants cut.
For more info on black cutworm scouting and control:
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