cutworm

From cut +‎ worm, from the habit of eating through the stem of plants, or possibly from cutty (“short”).

cutworm (plural cutworms)

1. The larva of any of the many moths of the family Noctuidae, considered an agricultural pest.
   • 2013, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 1st edition, Milkweed Editions, →ISBN, page 74:

     I listened while they discussed putting stove ash at the base of tomato plants to keep off cutworms or Mama bragged on how fast I was learning to read.

•   cutworm on Wikipedia.Wikipedia