–by Jeff Whitworth, Field Crops – Entomology
I have received a few calls within the last 10 days about “Miller moths” flying around lights at night and flying/running into the house when an outside door is opened the 1st thing in the morning. Those, at least from my experience and the specimens I have seen, are adult army cutworms (see pictures by Cayden Wyckoff). Like most adult cutworms, the army cutworm is a relatively thick bodied but otherwise nondescript moth. These moths are even more nondescript after losing wing scales while flying and/or hiding under objects during the day. They are a relatively agile, quick moving moth, and in Kansas always seem to be present just before and/or during Memorial weekend. As far as crops go, the army cutworm feeds on wheat or alfalfa since those were the crops growing last fall when the female moth was depositing eggs. Thus, since last fall the larvae have fed all winter and spring, pupated, emerged as adults, and are/or have headed for over- summering sites, usually somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. These same moths then, at least the ones that survive the summer, will be heading back this way in late summer or early fall and depositing eggs in wheat and alfalfa fields along the way. After depositing their eggs, these adult moths expire, but have started the next generation.
Adult army cutworm