Loopers and Damage to Cotton Leaf. Loopers and Damage to Cotton Leaf. Occasionally loopers severely damage cotton foliage. They are readily identified by their looping movements and by having only two pairs of abdominal prolegs. The moth has mottled brown fore wings and light brown hind wings.
Female moths deposit their pale green eggs singly on host plants.
Mature larvae pupate in flimsy cocoons in folded cotton leaves. A generation may take 4 to 6 weeks with three or more generations occurring in South Carolina.