''Euxoa ochrogaster'', the red-backed cutworm, is a
moth of the family
Noctuidae
The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other f ...
. It is found from
Iceland and northern
Europe, through the
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
to the
Amur region. In North America, it is found from
Alaska to
Newfoundland and Labrador, south into the northern part of the
United States, south in
Rocky Mountains to
Arizona and
New Mexico.
Adults are on wing from the end of July to beginning of September.
The larvae feed on a variety of broad leaf plants and grasses, including ''
Plantago'' species. The species is economically important on ''
Helianthus annuus
The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as b ...
'' in North America.
The moths can be affected by a fungus ''Tarichium megaspermum'' (from order
Entomophthorales), in
British Columbia, Canada.
Subspecies
*''Euxoa ochrogaster ochrogaster''
*''Euxoa ochrogaster islandica'' (Iceland)
*''Euxoa ochrogaster rossica'' (Lithuania to Amur)
References
External links
Fauna EuropaeaImages
Euxoa
Moths described in 1852
Moths of North America
Moths of Europe
Moths of Asia
Moths of Iceland
{{Euxoa-stub