The beet armyworm or small mottled willow moth (Spodoptera exigua) is one of the best-known agricultural pest insects.

[2] Thought to have originated in south-east Asian countries, it was first discovered in North America about 1876, when it was found in Oregon, and it reached Florida in 1924.

Orbicular stigma is pale or bright yellow, and round, whereas reniform has a curved brown lunule in centre.

For example, they will burrow straight into a head of lettuce rather than neatly removing tissue from one particular leaf, rendering the produce unmarketable.

Larvae also attack buds and new growth on plants, preventing flowers from opening, new leaves from sprouting, and vegetables from developing.

[3] The wide host range of the beet armyworm includes asparagus, beans and peas, sugar and table beets, celery, cole crops, lettuce, potato, tomato, cotton, cereals, oilseeds, tobacco, cannabis, many flowers, and a multitude of weed species.

Parasitoids such as Chelonus insularis, Cotesia marginiventris, Meteorus autographae, Lespesia archippivora lay eggs on the caterpillars, and their larvae feed and emerge.