Studies on Production of Cotton Bollworm Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) by Using a Plant Consequent Compound and the Implications of Alternating Host Use for Insecticide Resistance Management

2 Abstract: The present data quantify host utilization by the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera ,a multivoltine, Polyphagous pest of cotton. A novel technique was used to assess the proportion of the adult cotton bollworm population present in Aurangabad district on October and November 2011 which developed on cotton. The bodies of individual moths were analyzed for the presence of a cotton-specific analyzes, gossypol, using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry (MS). On this hypothesis, 100% of moths reared in the laboratory on cotton plant tested positive for the presence of gossypol. The moths reared on non-cotton hosts, 81% were determined as negative for gossypol. The study found that this technique will provide a conservative estimate of alternate crop host contribution to cotton bollworm populations as it tends to overestimate production from cotton. Analysis of feral moths revealed that < 10% of cotton bollworms collected in pheromone traps in Aurangabad contained gossypol. This result supports the hypothesis that non-cotton alternate hosts play an important role in production of H. armigera in the Aurangabad district and may serve as significant refuges for Bt resistance management.