CENTRAL VALLEY

Abstract

The tomato fruitworm ( H e l i o l h i s zea [Hoddie]), also called the corn earworm or bollworm, is a pest of several crops grown in California, including toma toes, cotton,beans, and sweet corn. The adults are excellent fliers capable of dispersing over wide areas. Larvae generally feed within the fruiting stage of the crops they attack, and their feeding results in reduced yields or crop quality. For example, excessive damage or larvae in harvested loads of processing tomatoescannecessitate there-sortingofloads or may result in rejection of the harvested crop. Either dtemative is costly to thegrower. Because of this, the tomato fruitworm is considered one of the more important pests of processing tomatoes. An Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program for the lepidopterous pests of processing tomatoes has been developed and implemented i n the Sacramento Valley. I t includes a technique for sampling fruit and plants for worm damage and eggs of the tomato fruitworm, as well as decision guidelines for appropriate treatment. Observationsduring thedevelopment and field testing of this program and during more recent research indicated that the seasonal activity of the tomato fruitworm may be fairly consistent over large geographicareas. For example, tomato fruitworm males capturcd in pheromone traps in processing to-mato fields as far as 20 miles apart appeared il Peter B. Goodell