Chloridea virescens
Chloridea virescens, commonly known as the tobacco budworm, is a moth of the family Noctuidae found throughout the eastern and southwestern United States along with parts of Central America and South America.It is a major pest of field crops including tobacco (as its common name suggests) and cotton. However, it is able to thrive on a wide variety of host plants ranging from fruits, vegetables, flowers, and weeds. Control of this pest has proven to be particularly difficult due to a variety of factors, but widespread insecticide and pesticide resistance have proven particularly concerning.
Chloridea virescens was formerly a member of the genus Heliothis, but was moved to the reinstated genus Chloridea as a result of genetic and morphological research published in 2013.()
