Mating Response Behavior of Sterile Pink Bollworms (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) Compared with Natives

Abstract

A timing pheromone trap was invented to capture male pink bollworm adults Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) for specific time intervals as they entered a commercial pheromone trap. The device was used to compare the window of male pheromone response of two different strains of released sterile pink bollworm populations with responses of native adult males. In all trials in cotton fields in Phoenix, AZ, and in Palo Verde, CA, the released sterile male adults entered commercial pheromone traps during the same time interval as native adult males. Native and sterile females were comparable in attracting and successfully mating with natives when confined in field stations. Thus, the quality of behavioral responses (male-pheromone response window) of laboratory-reared male pink bollworms was comparable to native adults infesting cotton fields in Arizona and California.