COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE OF STANDARD AND MODIFIED PHEROMONE-BAITED WING TRAPS FOR CAPTURING HELIOTHIS ZEA (BODDIE)1 (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE)

The wing trap, although economical and commercially available, has never been seriously considered as a standard for monitoring populations of the corn earworm (CEW)/cotton bollworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie), mainly because it is considered inefficient relative to other available traps. Attempts were made to enhance the performance of the Pherocon 1C (P-1C) wing trap by modifying its structure and by varying the placement of the pheromone within the trap. P-1C traps receiving 40–50 g of supplemental adhesive captured 5.1-fold more CEW males than did the P-1C standard. The introduction of horizontal barriers of either Lexan or hardware cloth across the center of the P-1C trap or the placement of Lexan strips to close side trap openings had no effect on the number of CEW males captured. Traps with the pheromone located 1.0–1.5 cm from the top center of the trap captured more males than did traps with the pheromone placed an equivalent distance from the bottom of the trap. Centering the pheromone approximately 2.5 cm back from the end opening of the trap also increased the number of CEW males captured over that of traps in which the pheromone was placed at the top center of the trap. Data suggest that parameters influencing the efficiency of P-1C traps for capturing male CEW are poorly understood.