The head capsules are tan to dark brown. Adult moths are brown with darker brown patterned wings. There are a large number of species with in the noctuid family. Females lay eggs on sorghum heads. Caterpillars grow to about inch long and have bodies that are covered with spines or hairs, green to tan in color, and marked with four reddish-brown lengthwise stripes.
Caterpillars feed on ripening grain, consuming the contents and leaving the hull intact.
Development from egg to adult can be completed in 24 days. Sorghum grains with compact heads suffer more damage, and alternate hosts include Sudangrass, Johnsongrass, corn, rye, and timothy. Corn earworm eggs are pin-head sized and has characteristic ridges. They are laid singly by female moths and turn from white to dark brown before hatching in 3 to 10 days. Larval development takes about 18 days before they pupate in the soil and remain for about 8-14 days.