The Effects of Various Larval and Adult Diets on the Fecundity and Longevity of the Boll worm, Tobacco Bud worm, and Cotton Leaf worm1

Laboratory studies showed that adults of the bollworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie), were able to mate and oviposit without having fed; however, about a 50% increase in both fecundity and longevity resulted when adults fed on a sucrose solution. Larval food also influenced fecundity and longevity of bollworm adults. Adults of tobacco budworm, H. virescens (F.), and cotton leaf worm, Alabama argillacea (Hubner), lived twice as long and deposited about 5 times as many eggs when fed sugar solutions as when they received water only.