Sora (bird) Soras often eat the seeds of plants, such as smartweeds, bulrushes, sedges, and barnyard grasses. Seeds of annual wildrice ("Zizania aquatica") and rice cutgrass are eaten by soras in the eastern United States. A literature review lists crowngrass ("Paspalum" spp.) and rice ("Oryza sativa") as relatively important food sources for soras in the Southeast. Plants comprising <5% of the sora's diet are also listed and include spikerushes ("Eleocharis" spp.), duckweeds (Lemnaceae), pondweeds ("Potamogeton" spp.), panicgrasses ("Panicum" spp.), cordgrasses ("Spartina" spp.), and saltgrass ("Distichlis spicata"). Soras eat more plant food in fall and winter (68%–69%) than in spring and summer (40%).
Mythimna separata light dorsal stripe, with black-brown lateral stripe along spiracle line. spiracles brown with black rim. Pupae are yellowish brown and shiny. The moth flies from January to April depending on the location. The larvae feed on a range of agricultural plants like "Zea mays", "Sorghum bicolor" and "Oryza sativa" and are thus considered a pest. Caterpillars do not feed on "Momordica charantia" due to the presence of the triterpenoid glucoside called momordicine II, which is a natural inhibitor of caterpillar actions. China experiences periodic outbreaks of northern armyworm infestation. The outbreak in 2012 was particularly severe. Larva can be hand