Cutworms are a common pest of many vegetable crops including carrots, celery, lettuce, onion, tomato, pepper, eggplant, cole crops, rutabaga, beans, cucurbit crops, sweet corn and several others. There are many species of cutworms attacking a wide range of cultivated and wild plants. The black cutworm and the variegated cutworm are the 2 most common species attacking vegetables although other species may be present in some areas. Recognizing damage from cutworms is relatively simple when plants are small. Seedlings are often 'cut' off at ground level and if the soil around the plants is dug up to a depth of about 5 cm, the characteristic cutworm larva can often be found.
Cutworms generally curl up as illustrated when disturbed.
Cutworms feed at night and will not generally be observed on plants or on the soil surface during the day. Figure 1 . Figure 2 . Characteristic damage from cutworm, cut seedling. Black cutworms are grey to black with no striping on the body whereas variegated cutworms are usually brown on the upper surface and cream-coloured on the lower surface.