BeneficialCutworms
Ground beetles for cutworms
Carabidae · wild predator
Against cutworms
UF/IFAS says ground beetles apparently eat numerous black cutworm larvae. Older cutworms hide in the soil by day and cut plants off at the soil surface. Mulch, stones and permanent edges give them daytime cover. In its cabbage maggot fact sheet, UMass warns that soil-dwelling beetles are susceptible to insecticides and advises against broadcast soil treatments; the same logic applies in cutworm beds.
RateNothing to release — give them cover
TimingAll season; they hunt at night on the soil surface
Before you act
Shiny, dark, long-legged beetles that run for cover when a stone, board or pot is lifted. They hunt at night on the soil surface, and both adults and larvae eat slugs, caterpillars and the eggs and larvae of soil pests. How to recognise it, what it is confused with and how to keep it around are on the full Ground beetles profile.
Other controls for cutworms
- Steinernema carpocapsaeNematode · 25 million per 1,000 ft² (about 270,000 /m²) in turf (UC IPM); about 1 billion per acre (PNW544)
- Bacillus thuringiensis kurstakiMicrobial insecticide · Label rate — DiPel DF lists cutworm (Agrotis ipsilon) and variegated cutworm, 0.5–2 lb per acre; on berry crops the label says to use the higher rate for cutworm
- Braconid waspsWild parasitoid · wild, attract it