(Ostrinia nubilalis) A recent pest of cotton in the Southeast where corn is planted, this boring caterpillar passes its initial two generations on corn, potatoes, wheat, and various weed species; the third and a partial fourth generation can be damaging to cotton, primarily because the pest bores into medium to large bolls and to a lesser extent into stems; female moths deposit small, fish scale-like egg masses deep within the plant canopy and on the underside of cotton leaves. Egg masses are difficult to find.
