Illustration of Tomato grub
Illustration by EH Zeck.
This is an illustration of Tomato grub Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera:Noctuidae)
Order reference: tomato-caterpillar
When damaging tomatoes, this species is known as tomato grub but it is better known as the cotton bollworm or the corn earworm. It damages the crop, whether tomato, corn or cotton, by tunnelling through the developing fruit. Zeck has provided close-up images of the four stages of the life cycle, egg, caterpillar, pupa and adult moth as well as showing the insect on the plant where the eggs are laid on the stems of the flowers, the young caterpillar burrows into the young fruit and older caterpillars in ripening fruit while the pupal stage is in the soil.
You are permitted to copy these images for personal or educational use provided the copyright notice and name of the artist is retained. Any other uses of these images must be approved by the Curator of the collection in which these illustrations are archived. High resolutions scans of the images may be available on payment of a prescribed fee. Send details of your intended use to the Curator of Collections at ascu@dpi.nsw.gov.au.
