The larvae are greenish-gray and often curl up into a C-shape. However, it is not unusual to find army cutworm above ground when populations are high (Figure 1). When scouting, it is critical to dig in the soil around individual canola plants to find the larvae. Army cutworms behave nocturnally and typically spend the daylight hours below ground. Collars simply prevent the cutworms from reaching plant stems.
Collars are extremely effective if you use them right. The pests will emerge and you can grab them. The economic threshold for chemical control is 1-2 cutworms per foot of row. To do a soap flush, mix one tablespoon of lemon dish soap with one gallon of water, and pour it all around your garden. Where infestations are high, army cutworms will remove all leaf tissue, leaving only the base of the stem (Figure 3). Scouting, accurate diagnosis of damage and cutworms, recommended nominal thresholds and knowledge of the insect are imperative to good management of these common insect pests. When minor feeding is observed, you may find leaves severed from the plant and laying on the soil surface. The larvae feed on the leaf tissue, leaving the plants with a fed-on appearance (Figure 2). Significant army cutworm pressure has been observed in fields northwest of Caldwell in Sumner County.Īrmy cutworms feed aggressively and significant damage can occur in a short period of time. With the onset of warmer temperatures, winter canola is breaking dormancy and army cutworms are now present in fields across Kansas.
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