Relationship of Larval Age to Toxicity of Gossypol to Bollworms, Tobacco Budworms, and Pink Bollworms123

Abstract

Larvae of the bollworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie); the tobacco budworm, H. virescens (F.); and the pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders); were reared on a standard larval diet and transferred at 5 ages onto media containing 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4% gossypol. Gossypol had statistically significant adverse effects on pupal weight and days to pupation and to adult. However the influence on development decreased with increasing larval age at the time of transfer. Pink bollworm larvae were able to tolerate higher concentrations of gossypol than either bollworm or tobacco budworm larvae.