Maaaaaaaybe a Tobacco Budworm?

www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Chlo...

New work in #RESInsectMolecBio

Multiple #CRISPR/#Cas9 modifications of an #esterase reveal its role in influencing acetate esters in #pheromone blend of a moth
doi.org/10.1111/imb.70016

#Heliothis #Chloridea #Noctuidae
@sassanasgari.bsky.social @gulianusslab.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social

+1 to tobacco budworm! Look through some of the caterpillar photos here. Different colors at different ages but several look identical to your guy. www.bugguide.net/node/view/63...

Fun fact: Chloridea virescens, the tobacco budworm, doesn't just go after plants in the tobacco family. Last year they devistated my bioluminescent petunia (which, in all fairness, if fairly closely related to the tobacco family).

But, apparently, they'll also thrash Ageratum houstonianum.

Think it might be a cabbage looper or maybe one of these. Either way, I would put it as far away from any plants you don't want eaten if you can't kill it (which I understand)
www.bugguide.net/node/view/15...

The info tab suggests it's "as far west as Nebraska" but in inaturalist you can see "research grade" observations on the west coast too. Here's one in Portland who looks like yours. www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Always open to deductions! I think it's actually a Chloridea sp., probably a tobacco budworm moth, Chloridea virescens. The color is a little off because of the strong purple reflections from the flower petals.

The EPPO datasheet on Chloridea virescens, a serious pest of cotton, tobacco, chickpea and tomato, is now online in the EPPO Bulletin: shorturl.at/qGOvG

Feed: "Things I Get To I.D. At Work"
Published on Wednesday, September 17, 2025

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7949044... #3112 - Helicoverpa armigera conferta - Cotton Bollworm Moth

AKA Chloridea armigera & obsoleta, Helicoverpa commoni & obsoleta, Heliothis armigera, Heliothis conferta, fusca, pulverosa, rama, & uniformis, Noctua armigera & barbara -