POPULATION DYNAMICS OF HELIOTHIS VIRESCENS IN A MULTIPLE CROP SYSTEM

摘要

Studies were conducted to evaluate the population dynamics of the tobacco budworm (TBW), Heliothis virescens (F.), in ahost-plant rich agroecosystem in North Carolina. Commercial cotton and tobacco fields in the central coastal plain of NCwere monitored in 2001 and 2002 for tobacco budworm larval development. A small plot trial was designed in 2002 to furtherelucidate the importance of cotton, tobacco, soybeans, and peanuts as hosts for H. virescens. Results of field evaluationsindicate that the presence of tobacco in the North Carolina agroecosystem dictates budworm occurrence both spatially andtemporally. Production of H. virescens from cultivated crops other than tobacco in commercial fields and small plots wasminimal. Tobacco in NC may serve as an important refuge for both Bt and conventional insecticide resistance management.