ADULT FEEDING HOST-RANGE AND MIGRATORY ACTIVITIES OF CORN-EARWORM, CABBAGE-LOOPER, AND CELERY LOOPER (LEPIDOPTERA, NOCTUIDAE) MOTHS AS EVIDENCED BY ATTACHED POLLEN

This study was conducted to determine the host plant feeding range and possible migratory activities of com earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie ); cabbage looper Trichoplusia ni (Hubner); and celery looper, Anagrap ha falcifera (Kirby), through analysis of pollen attached to their bod ies. Pollen grain identification from 392 moths captured in southern T exas and southern Oklahoma showed that moths fed on a wide range of pl ants including Citrus, Salix, Quercus, and Pithecellobium. Such inform ation provides insight on the feeding range of adults and aids in the selection of plants attractive to the adult, enabling isolation and id entification of adult feeding attractants. Thirty percent of H. zea mo ths collected in southern Texas and 6% of those collected in southern Oklahoma were contaminated with Citrus pollen. Citrus is not native to Oklahoma, and associated weather systems and atmospheric trajectories strongly suggest that H. zea and T. ni moths labeled with Citrus poll en had moved at least 700 km northward from southern Texas.