Females lay a single egg on the upperside of a host plant leaf. Hostplants include potato, tobacco, tomato, and other plants in the nightshade (Family: Solanaceae) family. The female will lay up to 100 eggs in a season. Eggs hatch in two to eight days and the larva emerges. Caterpillars pupate and overwinter in burrows in the soil for one to 25 weeks. An adult emerges and lives for several weeks. The life cycle has between two and four generations per year and the insects are typically active in late summer through fall.