DESCRIPTION
Cutworms are fat, dull brown or grey, 3 to 4 cm caterpillars with shiny head that curl into a ‘C’ shape when disturbed. Adults are brown or grey moths with a 3 to 4 cm wingspan.

DAMAGE
Caterpillars feed on many early vegetable and flower seedlings. During the day cutworms rest beside plant stems below the soil surface. At night they feed on stems at the soil line, cutting off the plant. Small seedlings are sometimes completely eaten.

LIFE CYCLE
Cutworms overwinter as pupae or eggs which emerge on the first warm spring days. Adults lay eggs during May. Eggs hatch in 5 to 7 days. Caterpillars feed on grass and other plants for 3 to 5 weeks, then pupate in soil. Adults emerge in late August to early September, feed on plant nectar and lay eggs. There is usually one generation per year.

CONTROLS
• Removing crop residue in the fall and keeping soil weed free during winter reduces egg laying sites and starves newly hatched cutworms.
• Prevent damage by placing collars (eg. tin cans, milk cartons, toilet paper roll) around young seedlings. Push the collar into the soil so it is half-buried.
• Apply pesticides.
• Keep a pest journal for next year, recording type of seedlings damaged, location in garden and controls used.

PESTICIDES
• Chemical-Apply Diazinon 5% granules at label rates around the base of young seedlings just prior to planting and work into the top 2.5 cm of soil.
• Scatter Cutworm Bait (bran containing Sevin) in late afternoon after planting.
• Alternative-Scatter moist bran mixed with molasses and BTK (Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki) in the afternoon a week before planting.