Many are stout, smooth, soft-bodied, plump caterpillars. These vary from brown or tan to pink, green, or gray and black. Some are all one color, others spotted or striped. Some larvae are dull, others appear glassy. The adults are generally very robust brown or black moths showing various splotches, blotches, or stripes in shades of gray, brown, black, or white.
Most cutworms pass the winter as partially grown larvae.
Thus they already are large voracious feeders at the time transplants and seedlings are set out in the fields. A few species pass the winter as pupae or hibernating moths. Overwintering cutworms may live under trash or bark, in clumps of grass, or in earthen cells in the soil. These cutworms become active and begin feeding as the weather warms in spring, remaining hidden under debris or in the soil and feeding at night. Many species continue to feed well through June, then pupate in the soil and later emerge as the moths.