Circular No. 849 



October 1950 • Washington, D. C. 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Cutworms, Army worms, and Related Species 



Attacking Cereal and Forage Crops 



in the Central Great Plains 



By H. H. Walkden 



Entomologist, Division of Cereal and Forage Insect Investigations, 



Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, 



Agricultural Research Administration l 



CONTENTS 



Introduction 1 



Factors influencing distribution 



and abundance 2 



Key to larvae of some species of 



Phalaenidae 3 



Subterranean cutworms 11 



Tunnel-making cutworms 13 



Surface-feeding cutworms 17 



Page Page 



Climbing cutworms 31 



Boring cutworms 46 



Control 47 



Literature cited 49 



Index to genera and species of 



Phalaenidae 51 



Index to common names 52 



i« W^» * »aA ^ MS^W » >rf »M A» < Su^ 



INTRODUCTION 



Cutworms and armyworms 2 have at times caused widespread dam- 

 age to cereal and forage crops in the central Great Plains. Wheat, 

 alfalfa, sorghum, corn, oats, and barley are basic crops in this region, 

 which includes the western parts of Nebraska and Kansas, north- 

 western Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, northeastern New Mexico, 

 and eastern Colorado. More than one-third of the region is in per- 

 manent pasture, and the forage value of the grasses growing in these 

 pastures and range lands is great. The planting of large tracts to a 

 single crop has provided an abundance of food plants on which many 

 native insects have developed into pests of major importance. 



Cutworms are the larvae of certain Phalaenidae that at night eat 

 or cut off young plants. Some species feed chiefly underground; 

 others are surface feeders; still others climb into trees and shrubs to 

 feed on the buds and foliage. Under certain conditions cutworms 



1 These investigations were conducted under the supervision of R. T. Cotton and 

 J. R. Horton. 



2 Order Lepidoptera, family Phalaenidae (formerly Noctuidae). 



