Environmental Entomology (1987) 16, 1057-1061

J.E. Pena, V.H. Waddill and K.D. Elsey (1987)
Population dynamics of the pickleworm and the melonworm (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in Florida
Environmental Entomology 16 (5), 1057-1061
Abstract: Larvae and adults of the pickleworm, Diaphania nitidalis Stoll, and of the melonworm, Diaphania hyalinata L., were sampled in southern and central Florida during 1983 and 1984. Pickleworm (PW) larvae on cultivated hosts were found during the winter in south Florida (0.68-1 larva per m² ), and appeared during the spring in central Florida. Major cultivated hosts for the pickleworm in the overwintering sites were squash and zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.), whereas the major host for the melonworm (MW) was the Cuban pumpkin, Cucurbita moschata Duchesne. Native hosts of the PW and MW, i.e., Melothria pendula and Momordica charantia, supported PW and MW larvae during the fall in central and south Florida and during the winter in southern Florida. Adult PW were trapped during the winter only in the Florida Keys and in south Florida.
(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:
surveys/sampling/distribution
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Diaphania nitidalis	Squash/pumpkin (Cucurbita)	U.S.A. (SE)
	Diaphania hyalinata	Squash/pumpkin (Cucurbita)	U.S.A. (SE)