COTTON LEAF PERFORATOR (LEPIDOPTERA, LYONETIIDAE) PHEROMONE STUDIES

The cotton leafperforator (CLP) Bucculatrix thurberiella Busck. is a s poradic pest of cotton in the southwest desert area. Tests were conduc ted in 1992 and 1993 to determine the effective life of CLP polyethyle ne pheromone dispensers, correlate CLP male moth catches to cotton fie ld infestations, determine seasonal distributions of CLP, and to deter mine effect of trap height on moth catches. The polyethylene pheromone dispensers were effective for about 4 weeks. In 1993, the best correl ation coefficients were obtained by comparing CLP moth catches/night t o main stem leaf damage at the sixth node position from top of plants at field edges. CLP windows per leaf and trap catches had the highest coefficient of determination, r2 = 0.52. There was more than twice as much CLP damage to leaves at field edges when compared to leaves 10 m into the field. The first CLP moth capture occurred in early to late J uly each year and increased rapidly in August to 100 to 200/trap/night , but was variable in September with a high of 300 and a low of 9/trap /night. CLP-baited delta traps placed 0.3 to 0.6 m above ground caught more moths than traps placed at heights up to 1.8 m from 11 to 21 Aug ust.