Cutworms attack many vegetable crops, grasses, and field crops such as cotton, corn, and peanuts.
This early season pest is usually of greatest concern during early development of field crops, typically within 10 to 14 days of crop emergence. When larger, they frequently feed at or just below the ground surface, and are more commonly found below ground, when the soil surface is dry and crusted, cutting plants off near ground level. In early spring, the overwintering larvae of some species become active and feed. In other cases, moths emerge from overwintering pupae and lay eggs on host plants or other vegetation. Therefore, depending on the species, damaging cutworms found in spring may be overwintered larvae or new generation cutworms.