Alfalfa looper larva and adult

Alfalfa Looper Larva

Alfalfa Looper Adult

© 2000. Ralph E. Berry, Department of Entomology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR.

Alfalfa looper larvae, Autographa californica (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), are about 24 mm long. Adults have a wingspan of 30 to 40 mm and typically have an ivory colored funnel-shaped marking on the forewings. Larvae have three pairs of legs on the thorax and three pair of prolegs on the abdomen (cutworms have four pairs of prolegs on the abdomen). Larvae feed on leaves causing ragged-edged holes in the leaf and on the leaf margins. Damage is most evident in June and July and again in September and early October.

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