Learn how to differentiate types of Spodopteras worms during the soybean development cycle.
Spodoptera frugiperda (Fall armyworm)
1 – 4 points at the end of the abdomen arranged in a square shape.
2 – Black dots in pairs along the back, a close pair and a distant pair.
3 – Inverted Y-shaped mark on the head.
Spodoptera eridania (Southern armyworm)
4 – It has a yellowish stripe interrupted in the first abdominal segment by a dark spot, which does not reach the head.
The worms are green and then turn gray with three red or yellow lines on the back.
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5 – 3 pairs of thoracic legs.
6 – 5 pairs of adbominal legs, one pair (5th) in the last abdominal segment.
Spodoptera latifascia (syn Spodoptera cosmioides: garden armyworm, lateral-lined armyworm)
7 – These worms have color variations from light yellow to black, with stripes along the body. There are yellow or ocher dorsal stripes, with white dots and black triangles, with the dorsal area sometimes lighter between the black triangular spots.
8 – Next to the pupal phase, they exhibit a dark ring band just after the thoracic legs and another at the end of the abdomen.
