Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Noctuidae
Subfamily: Plusiinae
Tribe: Argyrogrammatini
Genus: Trichoplusia
Species: T. ni
Binomial name: Trichoplusia ni
Synonyms: Phytometra brassicae, Plusia innata
Common name: Caterpillar of the Cabbage Looper
Trichoplusia ni is a nocturnal brown moth. It is found throughout the southern Palaearctic ecozone, all of North America, parts of Africa and most of the Oriental and Indo-Australian-New Zealand region.
The caterpillar, a measuring worm, is smooth and pale green with white stripes and is one of many species called cabbage worm. It is called a "looper" because it arches its body as it crawls, inchworm-style. This species is very destructive to plants due to its voracious consumption of leaves. It is not restricted to cole crops (Brassicaceae); other plant hosts include tomato, cucumber and potato. The adult of the species is a nocturnal brown moth.
Trichoplusia ni caterpillar on a tomato plant.
Trichoplusia ni caterpillar on a bean plant.
Trichoplusia ni caterpillar on a tomatoe plant
The head
The rear of the larva (caterpillar)
The moth of the Cabbage Looper
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
