Black Cutworm in Missouri

Abstract

The black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Rottemburg), is a globally distributed species. Within the different regions of its home range it may have other common names: floodplain cutworm, greasy cutworm and overflow worm. Black cutworms have numerous plant hosts and may cause economic damage to seedling plants of corn, cotton, soybeans, turf grasses, vegetables (e.g., lettuce and tomato), wheat and other cultivated and wild plant species.