THE REPRODUCTIVE MATURITY AND MATING STATUS OF HELICOVERPA-ARMIGERA, HELIOTHIS-PUNCTIGERA AND MYTHIMNA-CONVECTA (LEPIDOPTERA, NOCTUIDAE) COLLECTED IN TOWER-MOUNTED LIGHT TRAPS IN NORTHERN NEW-SOUTH-WALES, AUSTRALIA

The reproductive condition and mating status of female Helicoverpa arm igera (Hubner), H. punctigera (Wallengren) and the mating status of th e armyworm Mythimna convecta (Walker), trapped in tower-mounted light traps were studied over a four and a half year period, from November 1 985 to December 1989. The traps were mounted on towers (40 and 50 m hi gh) in two geographically distinct sites, one located at Point Lookout and the other at Mt Dowe both in north-eastern New South Wales, Austr alia. At the Point Lookout site, 132 females of H. armigera and 366 of H. punctigera were examined and of those, 88.7% and 89.9% were unmate d and immature, respectively. Most of the remaining females of both sp ecies were mature and mated. Of the mated H. armigera females, 78.6% c arried only a single spermatophore, the remainder having either two or three spermatophores. Most of the mated H. punctigera females (97.1%) carried only a single spermatophore and the remainder had no more tha n two. Females of M. convecta were predominantly (97.1%) unmated. At t he Mt Dowe site H. punctigera adults were predominant and all 44 femal es of this species examined were unmated and non-gravid. Pre-reproduct ive flight by Helicoverpa spp. and M. convecta is considered as an imp ortant component of the life-history strategies of these insects. Flex ibility in the timing and spacing of reproductive effort is seen as en abling colonization of heterogeneous environments.