By Danny Thompson

My uncle owns a rather large cotton, cattle and soybean farm. During summers in high school, I worked as a cotton scout...essentially a low-level agricultural entomologist. Essentially, my duties were to walk acres and acres of cotton field and look for the signs of the pests that could spell disaster for the crops.

This little guy was one of my prime suspects. He'll attack both leaves and fruit and can really wreak havoc on your plants. Worse they hatch and feed in groups.

To catch him early, check the undersides of the leaves...the beet armyworm lays its eggs in clusters of 100 or more (hence the dangers of group feeding), covered by hairlike scales. Imagine a mall Santa hiding ping pong balls in his fake beard...and you'll have a basic idea of what to look for. (It's a good idea to inspect plants thoroughly before you buy them).

If you see signs of the beet armyworm, you can pick the worms and eggs off by hand, or use a garden parasite like Trichogamma or Hyposter (note: the eggs are protected from parasites by their sac). You can use insecticides...but it usually isn't necessary unless you find lots of egg sacs on your plants.

This was a a guest post from Tomato Casual