Citrus cutworm—Xylomyges curialis
Citrus cutworms may be pale green in the young larvae or pinkish and brown in mature ones, but there
is always a white stripe on each side of the body on older larvae. The skin appears smooth to the naked
eye; it never has conspicuous hairs or tubercles. When older larvae are disturbed, they curl up and drop
to the ground. Adult moths are gray.
Identification of species | Life cycle
Damage
Larvae feed on leaves, blossoms, or fruit. Young larvae feed mostly on the edges of tender leaves; older
larvae eat holes through leaves and blossoms and into fruit.
Solutions
Natural enemies attack cutworm
larvae and are highly effective in reducing the next year's
population. Applications of Bacillus
thuringiensis or spinosad are effective when caterpillars
are small.
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Cutworm
larva and damage to blossoms
Citrus
cutworm larva feeding on leaf surface
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