Corn earworm moth by R. Bessin.

Corn earworm larva by R. Bessin.

Corn Earworm

The corn earworm is also know as the Soybean Podworm and Tomato Fruitworm. The adult moths are greenish gray or a light grayish brown with dark-gray irregular lines on the forewings. The irregular lines are often a shade of olive-green. Hind wings are white with some dark spots or irregular markings. Night flying, the corn earworm moth has a wingspan of 1½ inches.

The first generation of corn earworm moths emerges as early as late-March in Kentucky. There are generally four generations each year, however, overlap is great and adult moths that can lay eggs may be present in significant numbers throughout most of the growing season.

For additional information on corn earworm as a pest of sweet corn see Kentucky Sweet Corn Insect IPM Scout Manual and EntFact 302-Sweet Corn Pests. Details on this insect as a pest of soybeans can be found in Soybean Podworm Scout Info Sheet and EntFact 144-Soybean Podworm in Kentucky Soybeans.

The following graph shows the average trap counts for corn earworm moths at the UK Research and Education Center for the five year period from 1997 through 2001. This information is also available through the Kentucky Pest News web site.

Trap Counts for corn earworm are available for the following years:

1992	1993	1994
1995	1996	1997
1998	1999	2000
2001	2002	2003

Original document: 5 November 2001 Last updated: 13 August 2004