Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel, 1766)
(erroneously: Agrotis ypsilon)
Black Cutworm
NOCTUINAE,
NOCTUIDAE
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 28 January 2006)
(Photo: courtesy of
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France)
The scientific name of this species reflects the marking on
the forewing of the adult moth
which resembles the Greek character ipsilon.
The
Caterpillar is a
worldwide pest, attacking leaves, stems, and roots of many agricultural crops, including :
Cauliflower ( Brassica botrytis,
BRASSICACEAE ),
Soybeans ( Glycine max,
FABACEAE ),
Cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum,
MALVACEAE ),
Maize ( Zea mays,
POACEAE ),
Strawberry ( Fragaria ananassa,
ROSACEAE ),
Tomato ( Lycopersicum esculentum,
SOLANACEAE ),
Grape Vine ( Vitis vinifera,
VITACEAE ).
The adult moth has brown forewings
and a dumb-bell mark in the centre of each wing,
like other species in the Agrotis genus,
but specifically has a paler area around the tips
of the forewings.
The hind wings are buff, darkening to the margin, with dark veins.
The moth has a wingspan of about 4 cms.
(Specimen: courtesy of the
The Australian Museum)
One female adult moth can lay over 1,000 eggs.
They are laid in clutches of a dozen or so
on leaves of plants in damp areas.
The eggs hatch in about 5 days.
The species has
migratory habits.
It occurs world-wide, for example:
Brazil,
Canada,
Finland,
France,
Hawaii,
Holland,
Indonesia,
New Zealand,
Society Islands,
Spain,
Swaziland,
United Kingdom,
United States of America,
Uruguay, and
most of Australia,
although it is endemic only in the warmer half of the continent.
Possible control measures, depending on the crop, include :
flooding the fields between crops,
ploughing the soil between the crop plants,
using
light traps,
using pheromone traps,
using
pre-planting herbicides,
using
soil insecticide,
using a
Nucleopolyhedrovirus (
BACULOVIRIDAE ), and
using a
Granulovirus (
BACULOVIRIDAE )
the bacterium
Bacillus thuringiensis (
BACILLACEAE ),
the nematode
Steinernema carpocapsae (
STEINERNEMATIDAE )
the Mexican Cutworm Fly
Archytas cirphis (
TACHINIDAE ),
the fly Bonnetia comta (
TACHINIDAE ),
the fly
Chaetogaedia monticola (
TACHINIDAE ),
the fly
Eucelatoria armigera (
TACHINIDAE ),
the wasp Euplectrus plathypenae (
EULOPHIDAE ),
the wasp
Hyposoter exiguae (
ICHNEUMONIDAE ),
the wasp Pseudamblyteles koebelei (
ICHNEUMONIDAE ),
the wasp Pterocormus rufiventris (
ICHNEUMONIDAE ),
the wasp Chelonus texans (
BRACONIDAE ),
the wasp Meteorus laphygamae (
BRACONIDAE ),
the beetle Calosoma blaptoides tehuacanum (
CARABIDAE ).
Further reading :
David Carter,
Butterflies and Moths,
Collins Eyewitness Handbooks, Sydney 1992, p. 252.
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pp. 55, 64, 467.
