Pest on crop
Corn Earworm on sweet corn
Helicoverpa zea
Caterpillar that bores into corn ear tips through the silk channel and into developing tomato fruit. Also called tomato fruitworm. The most damaging US sweet-corn pest.
- Pest
- Corn Earworm
- Scientific name
- Helicoverpa zea
- Crop
- Sweet Corn
- Total hosts
- 2
Corn Earworm on sweet corn
Detailed guidance for this section is being prepared. Check back soon.
Signs on sweet corn
- ▸ Damaged corn ear tips with frass and tunneled kernels
- ▸ Caterpillars (varied colors: green, brown, pink, black) inside corn ears
- ▸ Holes in tomato fruit, often near the stem
IPM controls
- ✓ Apply mineral oil with Bt or spinosad to silks 4-6 days after silking begins
- ✓ Plant tight-husked varieties (Country Gentleman, Silver Queen)
- ✓ Pheromone traps for flight monitoring and early-warning
- ✓ Encourage Trichogramma egg parasitoids
- ✓ Tolerate damage on tip kernels for home use; cut and discard
Other crops affected by corn earworm
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