Utility of sex pheromone for monitoring Heliothis armigera (Hüb.) infesting sunflower.

Monitoring of Heliothis armigera (Hub.) was carried out during rabi 1996–97 at the Agricultural College Farm, Bapatla, using synthetic sex pheromone traps. The sex pheromone used was (Z)-11-hexadecenol and (Z)-9-hexadceenol in 97:3 ratio. The peak moth catch was observed during the 2nd week of February, while the peak larval population was observed during 3rd week of February. The larval population in the field closely followed the moth population in the pheromone traps. The moth catches in pheromone traps were positively correlated with the larval counts of H. armigera on snnflower in the field.