Both army and pale westerns can cause problems in wheat but also alfalfa, corn and sugarbeets. Areas of alfalfa that are not greening should be checked to distinguish winter kill from cutworm damage. To find cutworms in alfalfa, dig around the crown of the plant. There are no foliar rescue treatments for wireworms. Unfortunately switch to Dividend fungicide seed treatment which is not formulated with Lindane may have resulted in lots seed not treated for wireworms this spring.
Wireworms feed on roots, are light to medium brown in color and have hard, almost shell-like body.
Pale western cutworm larvae feeds below ground, cuts below ground stem, are soft bodied and pale, white or cream colored. Army cutworm larvae is pale with distinct banding and feeds above ground at night. I was out looking at the wild oat in wheat test plot that we have here on the place and was interested in the insects that we were finding. I have no reference book that I could look up what I was seeing to confirm what they were. There are some insects that look very similar to the cereal leaf beetle.