Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel) adults were brought into the laboratory in 1968 and used to start a laboratory culture. An adult diet consisting mainly of water, beer, and honey, and a larval diet consisting mainly of water and pinto beans have maintained the culture continuously since 1968 with no addition of wild stock. Approximately 800 larvae were reared weekly. However, this method will allow for rearing more cutworms depending on labor input. Under laboratory conditions (20-25°, 75-8.5% RH), larvae increased in weight by 4500-fold in 15 days. Over 82% of the measured larvae completed 7 stadia before pupation. Hatching to pupation took 23.9 days. Survival rates of over 80% were achieved for the larvae.
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Reese et al. (1972) studied this question.