H. M. Flint

Pink Bollworm and Tobacco Budworm Mating Disruption Studies on Cotton

The role of insect pheromones in mediating behavior of insects and the possible use of these chemical substances for control have recently attracted considerable attention. One such method of control, mating disruption by permeation of the atmosphere of crop environments with sex pheromones so as to prevent reproduction and thereby reduce infestations of economic insect pests, was first suggested by Beroza in 1960. The fact is that in most cultivated crop systems there is more than one pest species. Thus, as the technology of mating disruption has advanced, the possibility of using sex pheromones to disrupt the communication of more than one species within a same crop system has received greater attention (Mitchell, 1975; Tumlinson et al., 1976). One such complex of pest insects attacks cotton in Arizona and southern California. The most damaging species of this complex are the pink bollworm, Pectinophra gossypiella (Saunders); the bollworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie); and the tobacco budworm, H. virescens (F.).