Corn Earworm

Corn Earworm: (Size= 1-1/2 inch)
This pest is common throughout North America. The adult is an inch long, tan moth. In spring, yellow eggs are laid on leaf undersides. The caterpillar larva has alternating light and dark stripes that may be green, pink or brown. This first generation of caterpillars feeds on the leaves. Eggs of later generations are laid on the silks; the emerging caterpillars feed on the silks and the kernels at the tip of the ear, just inside the husk. In some cases under different common names, this same caterpillar feeds on a variety of plants, including tomatoes (tomato fruitworm), beans, cotton (cotton bollworm), geranium (geranium budworm), peas, peppers, potatoes and squash.

Controls:
Squirt half a medicine dropper of mineral oil into the tip of each ear of corn after the silks have wilted and begun to turn brown (any earlier may interfere with pollination).

Spray with neem oil.

Plow garden in fall to kill overwintering pupae.

Apply Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) before caterpillars enter ears or fruits.

Cultivate soil between crops to destroy pupae.

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