EVALUATION OF SOME COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE TRAP DESIGNS AND SEX-PHEROMONE LURES FOR SPODOPTERA-EXIGUA (LEPIDOPTERA, NOCTUIDAE)

Three commercially available sex pheromone lures (Trece, Scentry, and Hereon) for the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hubner), were effect ive for capturing males in Universal Moth Traps (Unitraps). The Trece and Scentry lures were equally effective, and there was some evidence for significantly greater captures with Hereon than with Trece lures e s, Longevity of the Trece, Scentry, and Hereon lures was 23, 37, and 2 8 -37 d, respectively. Of the trap designs evaluated, Unitraps were th e most effective. All-green and all-white Unitraps baited with Trece l ures were significantly less effective than those with a green cover, yellow top, and white bottom (multicolored). Multicolored Unitraps cap tured significantly greater numbers of males than Multipher li, 2, or 3 traps, and than commercially fabricated wire cone or commercially av ailable Scentry Heliothis traps. Checking the Scentry Heliothis traps daily, rather than at 2- or 3-d intervals, as a way to reduce escape o f moths that did not enter the trap tops, did not increase efficacy re lative to Unitraps. There was no significant difference between captur es in the wire cone and Scentry tl aps. These data should be useful in developing a standard trapping system for monitoring and population d ynamics studies of the beet armyworm.