Plants That Corn Earworms Attack

Corn Earworm Damage and Control

• Corn earworms feed on many parts of corn, including the leaves, shoots, silks, tassels and kernels near the top of the ear. The earworms feed on the silk, hindering pollination and preventing kernel development. The pests often eat all kernels on the top half of the ear. Larvae leave castings, or waste, that is visible on the tips of the corn ears, which renders commercial corn unsalable. Cultural controls include planting corn resistant to earworms, such as corn varieties with tight husks. Biological controls include introducing parasitic wasps that lay eggs in the larvae and green lacewings that eat the larvae. Using mineral oil inside the silk to smother the larvae is another option.

Tomato Fruitworm Damage and Control

• Tomato fruitworms on tomatoes may vary in color from green, pale cream or black. Pests tunnel into the fruit, leaving a hole that can contain decay, excrement or even the caterpillar, and a black hole at the stem's base. One fruitworm can feed on numerous tomatoes, making them very destructive. Handpicking the worms from tomatoes when you see them and introducing or attracting predatory insects can be effective control methods. You can also use a pesticide containing carbaryl if biological controls fail.

Cotton Bollworm Damage and Control

• Cotton bollworms damage both squares and bolls of cotton. Pests create holes at the base of squares, which are the flower buds of cotton that contain anthers and sepals surrounded by three or four bracts. They also chew holes at the base of bolls, which are the rounded seed pods of cotton plants. Boll damage can lead to infection caused by rot organisms. Introducing natural enemies is an important part of cotton bollworm control, especially with a low level of infestation. For larger infestations, broad-spectrum insecticides are available and used per package directions.

Other Plant Hosts

• Corn earworms often attack other vegetable crops, including lettuce, potatoes, peas, squash, peppers and beans. Pests tunnel into the stems of peppers and bore into lettuce and bean pods. Earworms also chew on new growth and leave behind excrement that can cause mold and rot organisms. For all vegetables, handpicking, suffocating with vegetable or mineral oil and traps are safe methods of control for corn earworms.