Efficacy of four traps in capturing male Helicoverpa moths in north Florida

Two important species in the genus Helicoverpa attack a diverse range of ornamental and agricultural plants worldwide. Native to the Americas, the Corn earworm, H. zea, infests economically important crops such as corn, tomatoes, and cotton. The Old World bollworm, H. armigera, shares similar host plant preferences but is distributed throughout the Eastern Hemisphere. As H. armigera threatens to invade the United States, USDA-APHIS-PPQ has implemented an active trapping program using pheromone-baited traps. However, traps vary greatly in their size, cost, processing time, specimen quality, and trapping efficacy. This study was designed to determine the most efficacious trap readily available for Helicoverpa moths.