Yellow-striped armyworm facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yellow-striped armyworm
Scientific classification
Synonyms
Prodenia eudiopta Prodenia lineatella Prodenia flavimedia Prodenia ornithogalli Spodoptera eudiopta Spodoptera variolosa Spodoptera flavimedia Spodoptera lineatella

Spodoptera ornithogalli (yellow-striped armyworm, cotton cutworm) is a moth of the family Noctuidae.

When first discovered this particular species was though to be the American representative of S. littoralis as the two species have very similar forms. However, S. ornithogalli is known to have much darker color body with sharper markings.

Illustration

Description

The wingspan of the adult moth is 32–44 millimetres (1+1⁄4–1+3⁄4 in). Adults are on wing from April to November depending on the location.

Distribution

Geographic distribution

North America

• Canada: Ontario, Quebec
• Mexico
• USA: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Central America and the Caribbean

• Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Puerto Rico

South America

• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Brazil: Acre, Bahia, Federal District, Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Roraima, Tocantins
• Colombia
• Ecuador
• French Guiana
• Peru
• Suriname
• Venezuela

Europe

There were repeated port interceptions throughout 2020, especially on consignments of asparagus from the Americas. Nonetheless so far S. ornithogalli remains otherwise absent from Europe.

• Denmark: Phytosanitation interceptions only.

Asia

• Japan: Phytosanitation interceptions only.

Ecological distribution

For the complete list see EPPO GD's hosts list.

The larvae feed on various crops, including alfalfa, asparagus, bean, beet, cabbage, clover, maize/corn, cotton, cucumber, hops, grape, grass, jimsonweed, morning glory, onion, pea, peach, peanut, potato, sorghum, soybean, sunflower, sweet potato, Swiss chard, tobacco, tomato, turnip, wheat, watermelon, and wild onion; ornamentals including chrysanthemum and roses; and weeds including Amaranthus retroflexus, Chenopodium album, Datura stramonium, Erigeron canadensis, Plantago lanceolata, and Rumex.