(Helicoverpa zea) The larval or caterpillar stage of the corn earworm moth. Since the widespread adoption of Bt cotton, bollworms have become the most troublesome portion of the bollworm/ tobacco budworm complex, primarily infesting fruit (squares, blooms, and bolls). Undergoes at least three to four generations annually, with the first two developing primarily in field corn and the third on cotton, soybeans, peanuts, and other crops. Also has a wide range of wild hosts. This insect is also called corn earworm, soybean podworm, and tomato fruitworm, depending upon host.