Corn earworm

Caused by: Helicoverpa zea
Problem Category: Insect
Symptoms: Larvae damage leaves, buds, flowers and pods; young caterpillars are cream-white in color with a black head and black hairs; older larvae may be yellow-green to almost black in color with fine white lines along their body and black spots at the base of hairs; eggs are laid singly on both upper and lower leaf surfaces and are initially creamy white but develop a brown-red ring after 24 hours and darken prior to hatching
Comments: Adult insect is a pale green to tan, medium sized moth; insect is also very damaging pests of corn; insect overwinters as pupae in the soil
Management: Monitor plants for eggs and young larvae and also natural enemies that could be damaged by chemicals; Bacillus thuringiensis or Entrust SC may be applied to control Insect on organically grown plants
Control: Spary the chiili garlic extract or 5% Neem seed kernal extract