Field Bioassay of Pheromone Lures and Trap Designs for Monitoring Adult Corn Earworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Sweet Corn in Southern New England

Abstract

Four commercial pheromones attractive to Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) were used as baits in four insect traps to attract moths in fresh market sweet corn. Moth catches were monitored for 10 wk in nine sites in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Zealure attracted twice as many moths as Scentry’s corn earworm lure and nine times as many as Pherocon’s corn earworm lure. Consep Membrane’s Biolure attracted few moths. Hartstack traps caught three times more moths than Heliothis net traps and 15 times more than Multi-pher or International Pheromone Systems traps. Results suggest the need for reference standards in management programs that use pheromones to monitor corn earworm populations.