Family: Noctuidae
Native Range: Worldwide, several varieties in Pennsylvania
Size:
Active: Adults and larva both overwinter in soil or leaf litter.
Color and Appearance: Grays and browns
Cutworms gain their name from the feeding habits of the caterpillars. The caterpillars come out at night and bite through the stem of young plants, cutting them down and eating some of what falls. Some species are considered to be major agricultural pests. The adults pupate into moths which become pollinators.
Scientific Name: Fissicrambus mutabilis
Family: Crambidae
Native Range: Eastern and Central United States, Pennsylvania.
Size: Wingspan: 17 mm (0.67 in)*
Active: April – September, with two generations per year and overwintering as partially grown larva.*
Color and Appearance: “Adult: forewing yellowish-brown with diffuse grayish-white streak running lengthwise in upper half of wing (i.e. nearest the costa); subterminal line black, evenly toothed; PM line jagged, irregularly toothed, sometimes continuous but often broken and represented by just two or three black spots; hindwing variably pale to dark brownish-gray.” BugNet.com (https://bugguide.net/node/view/70225)
Larva know as Striped Sod Webworm. Adults are primarily nocturnal, hiding in the grass by day.*
*From BugNet.com (https://bugguide.net/node/view/70225)
