The eggs are sometimes deposited in layers, but most eggs are spread over a single layer attached to foliage. The female also deposits a layer of grayish scales between the eggs and over the egg mass, imparting a furry or moldy appearance. Duration of the egg stage is only two to three days during the summer months. Head capsule widths are about 0.35, 0.45, 0.75, 1.3, 2.0, and 2.6 mm, respectively, for instars 1-6. Larvae attain lengths of about 1.7, 3.5, 6.4, 10.0, 17.2, and 34.2 mm, respectively, during these instars.
Young larvae are greenish with a black head, the head turning orangish in the second instar.
In the second, but particularly the third instar, the dorsal surface of the body becomes brownish, and lateral white lines begin to form. In the fourth to the sixth instars the head is reddish brown, mottled with white, and the brownish body bears white subdorsal and lateral lines. In addition to the typical brownish form of the fall armyworm larva, the larva may be mostly green dorsally. In the green form, the dorsal elevated spots are pale rather than dark. Larvae tend to conceal themselves during the brightest time of the day.