Cabbage Looper
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Noctuidae
Subfamily:	Plusiinae
Tribe:	Argyrogtammatini
Genus:	Trichoplusia
Species:	T. ni
Binomial name
Trichoplusia ni ((Hübner, 1800-1803))
Synonyms
Phytometra brassicae

The Cabbage Looper (Trichoplusia ni) is a member of the moth family Noctuidae. It is found throughout the southern Palaearctic ecozone, Africa and most of the Oriental and Indo-Australian region.

The caterpillar, a measuring worm, is smooth and pale green with white stripes and is one of a 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; other plant hosts include tomato, cucumber and potato. The adult of the species is a nocturnal brown moth.

Trichoplusia ni is also used as an expression system in the field of molecular biology.

[edit] External links

• cabbage looper on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site

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