The Tobacco Budworm is a moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Noctuidae

Noctuidae

The Noctuidae or owlet moths are a family of robustly-built moths that includes more than 35,000 known species out of possibly 100,000 total, in more than 4,200 genera. They constitute the largest family in the Lepidoptera....

 family. It is found in Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

, Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 and the Antilles

Antilles

The Antilles islands form the greater part of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. The Antilles are divided into two major groups: the "Greater Antilles" to the north and west, including the larger islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico; and the smaller "Lesser Antilles" on the...

.
The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is 28-35 mm.

The larvae feed on various crops, most notably Nicotiana

Nicotiana

Nicotiana is a genus of herbs and shrubs of the nightshade family indigenous to North and South America, Australia, south west Africa and the South Pacific. Various Nicotiana species, commonly referred to as tobacco plants, are cultivated and grown to produce tobacco. Of all Nicotiana species,...

species. The tobacco budworm is one of the most destructive pests of the tobacco. Eggs are laid on the tobacco leaves. The emerging larvae are light to dark green and have several longitudinal pale stripes. They may chew small holes in the leaves before they reach the buds. Larvae then damage the bud or growing tip of the plant. The leaves that expand from the buds are often ragged and distorted.
Other recorded foodplants include Penstemon laevigatus

Penstemon laevigatus

Penstemon laevigatus is a plant in the plantain family, Plantaginaceae. The flowers are borne in summer. Its native range includes much of the Eastern United States, from Maine to Michigan and Georgia to Mississippi. It can grow in either sunny or shady conditions....

, Desmodium

Desmodium

Desmodium is a genus in the flowering plant family Fabaceae, sometimes called tick-trefoil, tick clover or beggar lice. There are dozens of species and the delimitation of the genus has shifted much over time....

species, Lespedeza bicolour, Medicago lupulina

Medicago lupulina

Medicago lupulina is a summer annual or perennial plant usually considered a weed. It has a tap root. Like other legumes, it has three leaflets; its center leaflet is on a separate petiole...

, Geranium dissectum

Geranium dissectum

Geranium dissectum or Cut-leaved Cranesbill is a plant species of the genus Geranium. It is native to Europe.It can be found on other continents as an introduced species. It is a widespread noxious weed and invasive species in North America, where it is known as the Cutleaf Geranium.-External...

, Rhexia

Rhexia

Rhexia is a genus of plants in the Melastomataceae family. Like many other flowers in that family, Rhexia virginica is buzz pollinated and has yellow stamens which change color following the first day of flowering...

species, Rumex

Rumex

The docks and sorrels, genus Rumex L., are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family Polygonaceae....

species, Physalis

Physalis

Physalis is a genus of plants in the nightshade family , native to warm temperate and subtropical regions throughout the world. The genus is characterised by the small orange fruit similar in size, shape and structure to a small tomato, but partly or fully enclosed in a large papery husk derived...

species, Lonicera japonica, Lupinus species, Ipomoea

Ipomoea

Ipomoea is the largest genus in the flowering plant family Convolvulaceae, with over 500 species. Most of these are called "morning glories", but this can refer to related genera also. Those formerly separated in Calonyction are called "moonflowers"...

species, Jacquemontia tamnifolia, Passiflora species, Sida spinosa, Helianthus

Helianthus

Helianthus L. is a genus of plants comprising 52 species in the Asteraceae family, all of which are native to North America, with some species Helianthus L. is a genus of plants comprising 52 species in the Asteraceae family, all of which are native to North America, with some species Helianthus...

species, Linaria canadensis and Abutilon theophrasti

Abutilon theophrasti

Abutilon theophrasti is an annual plant in the family Malvaceae, native to southern Asia. It grows to 1 m tall, and has velvet-like heart-shaped leaves 15–25 cm broad...

.

The braconid wasp Microplitis croceipes

Microplitis croceipes

Microplitis croceipes is a braconid wasp native to Georgia. It is an important parasitoid of the caterpillars of Helicoverpa zea and of Heliothis virescens....

, which deposits its eggs inside a living caterpillar, is an important parasitoid

Parasitoid

A parasitoid is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life history attached to or within a single host organism in a relationship that is in essence parasitic; unlike a true parasite, however, it ultimately sterilises or kills, and sometimes consumes, the host...

 of both H. virescens and the related species Helicoverpa zea

Helicoverpa zea

The larva of the moth Helicoverpa zea is a major agricultural pest. It can feed on many different plants during the larval stage. Accordingly, the species has been given many different common names. When the larva consumes cotton, it is known as the cotton bollworm...

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