Plants of wild-type tomatoes, Lycopersicon hirsutum accession LA 1777, known to be high in sesquiterpene carboxylic acids (SCAs), a morphologically similar accession lower in SCAs (LA 1033), and a commercial cultivar of Lycopersicon lycopersicum ‘Mountain Fresh’, were grown in pots in the greenhouse and transferred to field cages to study the attractiveness of each cultivar to egg-laying H. zea moths. Trials were conducted at the University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, in the summers of 2002 and 2003. In replicated trials, two (2002) or three (2003) plants of each accession and commercial cultivar were placed in field cages approximately 1.8 m square and 1.8 m high. Laboratory-reared moths were released into each of the cages for mating and oviposition. Plants were replaced at 72 h (2002) and 48 h (2003) intervals and eggs from removed plants were counted and recorded in the laboratory. To assess the toxicity of SCAs found in trichomes of LA 1777, topical applications of extracted SCAs in solution were applied to laboratory-reared, third instar larvae. Results of these trials will be presented in this paper.
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