Yellow striped armyworm

Description:

This is a medium sized moth in the family (noctuidae). The moth has brown and white patterns with some dark blue. The hindwings are a pearly white. The moth also has an interesting trait, cannibalism. This moths caterpillars can eat their kind when the food is very scarce. This happens when they are major outbreaks that result in food scarcity. The armyworm's diet consists of alfalfa, asparagus, bean, beet, cabbage, clover, corn, cotton, cucumber, hops, grape, grass, jimsonweed, morning glory, onion, pea, peach, peanut, sweet potato, swiss chard, tobacco, tomato, turnip, wheat, watermelon, wild onion, and most other plants with soft leaves.

Habitat:

Semi-urban, Fort Worth, Texas.

Notes:

found in Guadeloupe, Marie-Galante, Saint Kitts, Dominica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica. In North America, it is found from California to Florida plus the eastern states, west to Kansas, and in south-eastern Canada from Nova Scotia to Ontario. In South America, it is found in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. 1 year anniversary.