Outbreaks are difficult to predict and may not occur in successive years because of the army cutworm moth's habit of migrating to higher elevations during summer months and moving back to the plains in late summer. Damaging, larval populations are treatable using insecticides but are difficult to detect early, before significant damage has occurred. Outbreaks occur sporadically, when insect population potential is high and environmental factors are favorable to the insects survival. A forecast method has been used in Montana for the last several years. Females lay eggs directly on the soil surface preferring bare ground that has been newly planted or tilled.
Moisture is needed for the eggs to hatch in the fall.
Larvae , are pale gray-brown in color with pale diamond pattern down the center of the back. Winter wheat and alfalfa are most frequently damaged by larvae that remain below ground during day and feed at night during fall months when temperatures are suitable. Partially grown larvae overwinter in soil. Feeding by larvae resumes in the spring as soon as temperatures warm when they do most of their damage. Larvae have a wide host range, damaging grain, alfalfa, sugarbeets, and other vegetable and grass crops.