Environmental Entomology (1972) 1, 318-323

E.A. Stadelbacher, M.L. Laster and T.R. Pfrimmer (1972)
Seasonal occurrence of populations of bollworm and tobacco budworm moths the central delta of Mississippi
Environmental Entomology 1 (3), 318-323
Abstract: Catches of adult male bollworms, Heliothis zea (Boddie), in sex traps (baited with virgin females) placed in areas with dense stands of a single host-plant species showed that populations were influenced by the species available at a given time. Occurrence changed with the seasonal succession of hosts, but moths also abandoned some hosts while they were still in an apparently attractive stage in favor of other hosts in an earlier stage. Early in the season, when the adult population of bollworms was low, the sex trap was effective in capturing males, but as the season progressed and the natural population increased, it became progressively less effective. Catches of adult male bollworms and tobacco budworms, H. virescens (F.), in cotton with sex traps showed that the 1st major peak in the population of tobacco budworms occurred about a month before the cotton began squaring and about a month before the 1st major peak in the population of bollworms.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
population dynamics/ epidemiology
environment - cropping system/rotation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Helicoverpa zea	Cotton (Gossypium)	U.S.A. (mid S)
	Heliothis virescens	Cotton (Gossypium)	U.S.A. (mid S)