![]() ![]() This could happen as early as four days after the first emergence of the seedlings. In cases of severe cutworm infestation, entire rows of seedlings in a land can be destroyed by these voracious feeders. In the case of the latter, the edges of the feeding holes have a frayed appearance.Ībove-ground symptoms of cutworm damage include wilting of the central whorl leaf, followed by wilting of the entire plant. In older maize plants (four-leaf stage), the larva chews a neat, round hole into the stem just below ground level.Ĭutworm damage is easily distinguished from damage caused by the black maizeīeetle or false wireworm. They may consume only a small portion of a plant before moving on to the next, causing serious damage in the process. Several overlapping generations may be present on a maize land.Ĭutworms emerge from the soil at night and move from plant to plant, severing the stems of seedlings at the soil surface. ![]() After the sixth larval instar, the cutworm burrows deeper into the soil and make a small pupal chamber, from which the moth will emerge. Very young larvae occur on top of the soil surface, below weed leaves, while larger larvae burrow into the soil and emerge only at night. Newly hatched larvae hide under, and feed on, the leaves of weeds or crops on and near the soil surface. Small larvae emerge from the eggs after about a week. When the eggs are laid during autumn and winter, various sizes of larvae will be found in the soil until spring. ![]() Cutworm moths are nocturnal and take flight at night, laying eggs singly or in groups on the soil surface, or on the leaves of weeds and maize plants that may occur in lands in the few weeks prior to planting. ![]()
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