Soybean Looper
Chrysodeixis includens
OWLET MOTH FAMILY (Noctuidae)
The Soybean Looper has a wingspan of about 1.50 inches. The forewing is gray and bronze. There is a black patch between the stigma and the postmedial line. The two part silver stigma has an inverted U-shaped inner part and a solid outer spot. The hindwing is plain brown with darker brown veins. This looper is very similar to the Common Looper (Autographa precationis), but it has a red collar and the stigma is surrounded by a brown patch. The caterpillar is green with white lines and a shiny green head. It grows to 1.50 inches.
The Soybean Looper is common in late summer and fall. It has been photographed at Fontenelle Forest Nature Center in early October 2013. It is a tropical moth that immigrates north each summer and breeds. The species can not withstand the winters in the north and dies each year.
The larva eats the leaves of many plants including cotton, goldenrod, lettuce, peanuts, soybeans and sweet potato.
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