Evaluation of a Prototype Feeding Attractant/Stimulant Formulation(s) for Corn Earworm/Bollworm and Other Noctuid Adult Control with Aerial Strip Applications on Cotton
| Problem: | Based on a pending CRADA, a prototype formulation(s) will be available this season to be tested for control of adult corn earworm/bollworms and tobacco budworms on cotton. Although adult control could be accomplished with ground equipment, the most practical method is aerial application |
| Objective: | Evaluate aerial strip applications of a prototype feeding attractant/stimulant formulation(s) mixed with an insecticide for killing adults, reducing adult numbers, and preventing or reducing egglay on cotton. |
| Approach: | Prototype formulations will be evaluated for aerial strip application using conventional aerial spray equipment. Five or six pairs of fields with similar varieties and phenology will be identified in three or four cotton-growing areas of Texas during the period that moths are emerging from corn and moving into cotton. One field of each pair will be a control and will receive the standard producer treatments. The other field will be aerially strip treated at 50 m or row intervals with prototype materials mixed with an insecticide for adult control. Treatments will be initiated on the basis of adult flush counts. Sampling areas will be marked within treated strips to determine number of adult moths killed per area treated. Dead adults will be counted and collected to determine sex and reproductive condition. The untreated field will be checked for any dead moths. Both treated and untreated fields will be checked for number of moths by flush counts and for egg densities by whole plant examinations. Egg samples will be collected to determine species composition. |
|
Accomplishments: |
Considerable research has been conducted in the laboratory and field on numerous aspects of adult corn earworm/bollworm and other noctuid pest species control with feeding attractant and stimulant/insecticide combinations, but field evaluations have primarily involved applications with a backpack sprayer. This research has shown that it is possible to kill large numbers of adult corn earworms/bollworms with crosswind strips aligned with row direction of a feeding stimulant/insecticide mixture with very low concentrations of insecticide. Preliminary evaluations have shown that aerial strip applications are possible. |
Juan D. Lopez