![]() Typically the “worm” in sweet corn is the corn earworm. Cultivated hosts include sweet corn, field corn, green beans, snap beans, cowpea, peas, peppers, eggplant, lettuce, sweet potato, rice, cotton, grapes, strawberry and many others. There are many non-crop plants on which the earworm can develop early in the year before crops and gardens are planted. Habitat & HostsĬorn earworm has an extremely wide food host range and can be found wherever its host plants grow. The head is orange to tan but may be more brownish in some larvae.Ĭorn earworm adult showing typical buttery yellow color. Larvae have many microspines on the back and sides of the body, and these are not found on other common corn caterpillar pests. A yellowish band is often found on the side of the larvae, and the band contains the dark, circular spiracles, the holes that let air into the insect’s body. ![]() Regardless of coloration there will be a darker stripe down the midline of the top of the larva, and somewhat wider stripes on the lateral edges of the body when viewed from above. ![]() There is no one color for the larvae, and they can range from yellow to pink to green. The first instar is about 1/16” long and the the 6 th instar can grow to 1 3/4 inches long. There are six larval instars (or stages). There are usually darker bands present near the tips of the front and hind wings. Yellow, pink and green are common colors found in corn earworm larvae.Article author: Pat Porter Most recently reviewed by: Dalton Ludwick & Extension Entomologist at Weslaco (Vacant) (2020) Common Name(s): Corn earworm, Cotton Bollworm, Soybean Podworm, Tomato Fruitworm DescriptionĬorn earworm belongs to the Order Lepidoptera (butterflies, moths and skippers) and the adult stage is a stout bodied, brownish to buttery-yellow moth with a wingspan of about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches.
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