Damage
Each larva can consume over 400 square centimetres of foliage during its development. They feed above ground until about the fourth instar. After that they do considerable damage to crops by severing young plants at ground level. In the midwestern USA the black cutworm is considered to be a serious pest of corn which is very susceptible at the one-leaf stage but by the 4 or 5-leaf stage it is relatively unaffected. Damage to the underground parts of plants can also be harmful. Other crops where serious damage occurs include cotton, maize, tobacco, sunflower, tomatoes, sugar beet and potato.
Read more about this topic: Dark Sword-grass
Famous quotes containing the word damage:
“The relationship between mother and professional has not been a partnership in which both work together on behalf of the child, in which the expert helps the mother achieve her own goals for her child. Instead, professionals often behave as if they alone are advocates for the child; as if they are the guardians of the child’s needs; as if the mother left to her own devices will surely damage the child and only the professional can rescue him.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“Instead of asking—”How much damage will the work in question bring about?” why not ask—”How much good? How much joy?””
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)
“Technological innovation has done great damage ... to eating habits. Food is now available in such unpleasant forms that one frequently finds smoking between courses to be an aid to digestion.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)