Variegated cutworm moth
The variegated cutworm moth is a brownish night moth that travels a lot. Its caterpillar is a hungry eater that hides in the soil in the daytime. In the evening it climbs up and munches on vegetables and fruit plants.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
One mother moth can lay between 1200 and 1400 eggs in her life.
Every spring the moths fly north to cooler places, and in autumn they fly back south.
A fully grown caterpillar can be up to about 4.5 centimetres long.
In Japan it is called a name that means false black cutworm moth.
Its tiny eggs start out white and turn brown as they get ready to hatch.
Most asked questions about Variegated cutworm moth
?Why is it called a cutworm?
Its caterpillars eat garden plants, and it is one of the most damaging garden pests.
?When does the variegated cutworm eat?
Mostly when the sun goes down. In the daytime the caterpillars hide in the soil.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Peridroma saucia
- Named by
- Hübner, 1808
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Noctuidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
- Lives on
- North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa
- Also known as
- Pearly underwing, Variegated cutworm
Where the facts come from
- Peridroma saucia (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Fvlamoen. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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