Bug FAQPale-banded Dart
Agnorisma badinodis · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Noctuidae
Also called: Spotted-sided Cutworm Moth, Pale-banded Dart Moth
Source: Wikipedia
The pale-banded dart has a wingspan of about 36 mm. It lives east of the 100th meridian in southern Canada and the United States, but not in the Deep South. Its larvae eat many cultivated plants such as cabbage, alfalfa, wheat, grapes and other crops.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Agnorisma badinodis, known as the pale-banded dart or spotted-sided cutworm, belongs to the Noctuidae family.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The adult’s wingspan is roughly 36 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is found in southern Canada and the United States east of the 100th meridian, excluding the Deep South.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Recorded food plants include cabbage (Brassica nigra), apple (Malus), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), dock (Rumex crispus), and many other garden and crop species.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
There is one generation per year.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range includes southern Canada and the United States east of the 100th meridian.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 36 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Massachusetts, Alabama.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What plants does the pale-banded dart eat?
Its larvae feed on a wide range of crops and garden plants such as cabbage, alfalfa, wheat, grapes, apple and many others.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Noctuidae)
Ipsilon Dart MothAgrotis ipsilonDamages trees, gardens or crops
Fall Armyworm MothSpodoptera frugiperdaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Army Cutworm MothEuxoa auxiliarisDamages trees, gardens or crops
Large Yellow UnderwingNoctua pronubaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Silver ΥAutographa gamma
American DaggerAcronicta americanaCan irritate skinSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnorisma_badinodis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.