Tobacco Budworm: 1 Disruption of Courtship Behavior with a Component of the Synthetic Sex Pheromone 2 , 3

Abstract

Female tobacco budworms, Heliothis virescens (F.), were used as bait in traps in 7×12×3-m field cages alone or in conjunction with ( Z )-11-hexadecenal ( Z -11-HDAL) and/or ( Z )-9-tetradecenal ( Z -9-TDAL), the components of the synthetic sex pheromone. When the mixture of the 2 components of the synthetic pheromone contained 32 parts Z -11-HDAL to 1 part Z -9-TDAL, the catch was increased significantly compared with catches by females alone. Also, the same amount (20.61 μl) of Z -11-HDAL placed near the bait females increased the catch. However, catches of males significantly decreased when 0.643 μl Z -9-TDAL was dispensed near the “calling” females. Therefore, Z -9-TDAL has more potential for disrupting the mating process of the tobacco budworm as a means of control than Z -11-HDAL or the mixture of the 2 components of the sex pheromone.