Effect of Trap Type and Killing Agent On the Capture of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Adults in Cotton

Abstract The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is one of the main pests of cotton and other economically important crops worldwide. Pheromone traps can be used to monitor H. armigera males. The trap type is an important monitoring system component, along with the killing agent inside the trap. In the first series of this study, we evaluated the performance and efficiency of one commercial funnel trap and two novel funnel traps. In a second series, brown quadruple funnel traps impregnated with a different killing agent, i.e. deltamethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin were utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of the insecticide in capturing adult males of H. armigera . The trials were performed in cotton crops in the region of Anthili, Fthiotida, Central Greece. Captures notably increased in all traps from late July to mid-September. The commercial funnel trap exhibited the highest capture of H. armigera males, collecting an average of 2.12 males in total compared to 1.14 and 1.44 of double and quadruple funnel, respectively, while in most of the trap-check dates tested, there were no significant differences between the killing agents. The present findings could additionally be applied to H. armigera monitoring programs in cotton fields.