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Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner)
Taxonomic position
Insecta: Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Noctuidae: Heliothinae
Common names
Gram pod borer, American bollworm
Habitat / Crop(s) damaged
Cotton, castor, pigeonpea, sunflower, chickpea, black gram, maize, bhendi, potato, tomato, tobacco, rose, peach, etc.
Symptoms of damage on cotton include buds and bolls hollowed out leaving a clear cut, circular borehole at the base; yellowing and flaring of bracts which curl downwards, followed by shedding of young buds and bolls and older bolls fail to open; dark greenish larva with alternate dark and pale longitudinal stapes on the back seen feeding on the bolls with much of it's body outside the boll or bud and presences of granular faeces found within the enclosing bracts.
In maize, due to larval feeding, cobs are irregularly injured with grains webbed together and broken.
In pigeonpea, chickpea and other pulses, damaged pods show clear cut, big, circular holes; larvae feed on flowers and pods with rear part of the body remaining outside the pod and granular faeces are present on the plant or affected pods. In sunflower, leaf feeding results in large, irregular holes and capsules also have boreholes.
Pest status
Major.
Images
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