"Nasty" Cutworms

Just one of the many cutworms found while weeding out the garden.

Cutworms are "nasty" caterpillars of night-flying moths that lay eggs in the soil. After they emerge, they chew young plants and seedlings at ground level, sometimes eating right through the stem, which falls over (hence the name cutworm).

When we were getting rid of them by picking them up from the ground, they disturbingly curl up into a flat coil. I gathered they eat at night and take shelter in the soil during the day.

Too bad, they just had to go to the bin as they started attacking some of my flower seedlings!