Corn earworm is one of the most important pests of agricultural crops in Virginia feeding on corn, cotton, beans, tomatoes, and other crops. Often cold winters lead to high mortality of pupa in the soil and most CEW moths coming from more southern locations. Typically, we don’t see much moth activity and pest pressure until mid-July. But this spring we have seen some unusually high corn earworm moth activity at pheromone traps for this early in the year. Sweet corn grower Mr. Bill Tiver from Halifax Co. (near the North Carolina border) reported >30 moths in one night at his trap on May 26, 2025. Helene Doughty caught 50 moths at a trap in Northampton County this week. Delaware traps also are catching high numbers for late May based on recent correspondence from David Owens. This probably is the result of high overwintering survival of CEW pupa in Virginia or North Carolina soils and pupation already occurring. This could mean the start of a bad year for corn earworm, but so much of this depends on CEW moth flights rolling in from the South on prevailing winds during the summer. We shall see, but it would behoove you to monitor for CEW and keep tabs on this pest if you grow susceptible crops like sweet corn, soybeans, tomatoes, and others.