CreatureData

Black cutworm

Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel, 1766)

Status not recordedbutterflies and moths

The black cutworm (Agrotis ipsilon) is a species in the family Noctuidae, order Lepidoptera.

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Quick facts about the black cutworm

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Active
Day and night (cathemeral)
Generations a year
Two
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the black cutworm live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the black cutworm as introduced in 1 country.

  1. United States

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the black cutworm endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the black cutworm classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classInsecta
  4. orderLepidoptera
  5. familyNoctuidae
  6. genusAgrotis
  7. SpeciesAgrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel, 1766)

Synonyms Agrotis albescens, Agrotis aneituma, Agrotis aureolum, Agrotis bipars, Agrotis brunnea, Agrotis centrifasciata, Agrotis frivola, Agrotis fusca, Agrotis hirsutumus, Agrotis idonea, Agrotis inversa, Agrotis ipsilon aneituma, Agrotis juncta, Agrotis mosbacheri, Agrotis nigrostriata, Agrotis obscurata, Agrotis obsoleta, Agrotis pallida, Agrotis pepoli, Agrotis rufa, Agrotis spinifera, Agrotis spinula, Agrotis striata, Agrotis suffusa, Agrotis telifera, Agrotis unicolor, Agrotis virgata, Agrotis ypsilon, Bombyx spiniferus, Bombyx spinula, Noctua aneituma, Noctua robusta, Noctua spinifera, Noctua suffusa, Noctua ypsilon, Phalaena idonea, Phalaena ipsilon, Phalaena spinula, Phalaena suffusa, Phalaena ypsilon, Rhyacia ipsilon, Rhyacia pernigrata, Scotia ipsilon

Other names and names in other languages (41)
  • Dark sword-grassEnglish
  • Greasy cutwormEnglish
  • Ipsilon dartEnglish
  • Ipsilon dart mothEnglish
  • عثة الحلف السوداءArabic
  • osenice ypsilonováCzech
  • Dart TywyllWelsh
  • YpsilonugleDanish
  • IpsiloneuleGerman
  • Gusano trozadorSpanish
  • Rohu-mullaöölaneEstonian
  • vaelluskatkoyökkönenFinnish
  • PerluvongurFaroese
  • ver-gris noirFrench
  • Nagy földibagolyHungarian
  • Nottua dei seminatiItalian
  • タマナヤガJapanese
  • 검거세미밤나방Korean
  • Vikrusis DirvinukasLithuanian
  • stort jordflyNorwegian Bokmål
  • Grote worteluilDutch
  • langvengjordflyNorwegian Nynorsk
  • Rolnica gwoździówkaPolish
  • Совка-ипсилонRussian
  • siatica ypsilonováSlovak
  • ipsilonska poljarkaSlovenian
  • Ипсилон совицаSerbian
  • kommajordflySwedish
  • BozkurtTurkish
  • Совка іпсилонUkrainian
  • 球菜夜蛾Chinese
  • دودة القارضة السوداءArabic
  • Dartiau TywyllWelsh
  • Ipsilon-ugleDanish
  • Gemeine Kräuterflur-BodeneuleGerman
  • YpsiloneuleGerman
  • Noctuelle baignéeFrench
  • Noctuelle baignée (La)French
  • langvingejordflyNorwegian Bokmål
  • Ipsilon sovicaSerbian
  • 小地老虎Chinese

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the black cutworm

Other species in the same genus Agrotis.

Heart & dart

Agrotis exclamationis

NoctuidaeNo free photo yet

CompareBlack cutworm vs Turnip mothBlack cutworm vs Heart & dartBlack cutworm vs Bogong mothBlack cutworm vs Shuttle shaped dart

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the black cutworm an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the black cutworm as introduced in 1 country: United States, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

What kind of animal is the black cutworm?

The black cutworm (Agrotis ipsilon) belongs to the family Noctuidae in the order Lepidoptera.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Black cutworm (Agrotis ipsilon). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-cutworm

MLA

“Black cutworm (Agrotis ipsilon).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-cutworm.

BibTeX
@misc{black_cutworm_2026,
  title = {Black cutworm (Agrotis ipsilon)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-cutworm},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}