This pest is common throughout North America. The adult is an inch-long tan moth that lays yellow eggs on leaf undersides in the spring. The caterpillar larva has alternating light and dark stripes that may be green, pink, or brown. This first generation of caterpillars feeds on the leaves. Eggs of later generations are laid on corn silk; the emerging caterpillars feed on the silk and the kernels at the tip of the ear just inside the husk. In some cases this same caterpillar feeds on a variety of plants and hence has many common names: tomato fruitworm, cotton bollworm, geranium budworm. It also is know to feed on beans, peas, peppers, potatoes, and squash.
ControlSquirt half a medicine dropper of mineral oil into the tip of each ear of corn after the silks have wilted and have begun turn brown (applying oil earlier may interfere with pollination). Plow the garden in fall to kill overwintering pupae. Apply Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) before caterpillars enter ears or fruits. Cultivate the soil between crops to destroy pupae.
Photography by Jack Dykinga, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org
Victory Seed Company has all the seeds you want for your best garden in 2024.
For 25 years, the family-owned Victory Seed Company has provided the highest quality vegetable, herb and flower seeds to families across the country. We are passionate about providing you the best seeds available that give excellent germination, robust plants, and the harvest you want. With a catalog of over a thousand varieties, we have everything, and our prices are the kinds that we'd want to pay. We have hundreds of yesterday's heirloom vegetables, as well as today's award winning hybrid selections. Get to know us by visiting our website and browsing through our online vegetable seed catalog.
