Annual Sunflower vs Black Cutworm

Helianthus annuus compared with Agrotis ipsilon

Key Differences

  • Annual Sunflower is Not Evaluated while Black Cutworm is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank Annual Sunflower Black Cutworm
Kingdom Plantae (Plants) Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants) Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Magnoliopsida (Dicots) Insecta (Insects)
Order Asterales (Daisies & Sunflowers) Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family Asteraceae (Daisy Family) Noctuidae
Genus Helianthus (Sunflowers) Agrotis
Species Helianthus annuus Agrotis ipsilon

Conservation Status

Annual Sunflower

NE — Not Evaluated

Trend: Stable →

Black Cutworm

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute Annual Sunflower Black Cutworm
Diet Autotroph
Average Lifespan 1 years
Average Length 3.0 m
Average Weight

Habitat & Geographic Range

Annual Sunflower

Habitat

Inhabits montane grasslands and shrublands and Mediterranean forests and woodlands within the Palearctic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (12 countries), Asia (7 countries), Europe (30 countries), North America (Canada, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia, Marshall Islands), and South America (4 countries).

Black Cutworm

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 6 distinct biome types spanning the Afrotropic and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (7 countries), Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), North America (Canada, United States), and South America (Chile).

Annual Sunflower

One of the world's most cultivated flowering plants and an economically critical oilseed crop, sunflowers are native to North America and can reach 3 meters in height with flower heads up to 30 cm across. Their distinctive behavior of tracking the sun — solar heliotropism in young plants — gave them their name. A single sunflower head consists of up to 2,000 tiny individual florets. Global production exceeds 50 million tonnes annually, valued for oil, seeds, and birdfeed.

Black Cutworm

The Black Cutworm (Agrotis ipsilon) is a species in the genus Agrotis. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 6 distinct biome types spanning the. Widely distributed across Africa (7 countries), Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), North America (Canada, United Stat...

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