1st Place: Phenology of flight and number of generations of Helicoverpa zeaBoddie (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in a migratory region

Monday, November 14, 2022

11:30 AM – 11:42 AM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 213

Presenting Author(s)

IB

Izailda B. santos

PhD student
University of Florida
Jay, Florida

Co-Author(s)

SP

Silvana Paula-Moraes

PhD Entomology AG- WFREC-JAY
University of Florida
Pace, Florida
Julien M. Beuzelin

Assistant Professor
University of Florida
Belle Glade, Florida
Daniel A. Hahn

Professor of Entomology
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida
CF

Clyde W. Fraisse

University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida

Florida Panhandle is a migratory region for Helicoverpa zea and a source of populations exposed to bt transgenic crops and insecticides to other regions in the U.S and Canada. The objectives of this study were to: document the phenology of flight of H. zea, investigate the effect of weather variables on H. zea abundance, and estimate the number of H. zea generations in the region. Five years of sex pheromone trapping at WFREC/UF were conducted to determine H. zea flight phenology. Generalized mixed models were used to test the association between moth catch and weather variables. The number of generations and period for local population occurrence were estimated using degree days. The highest H. zea catches were from July to September. The model with the best fit used two-time lags for weather variables calculation. For the migratory population, the weather variables were averaged for the period from trap placement to recovery. In contrast, for the local population, the weather variables were averaged using the period needed for eggs to develop into adults. This model explained 69% of H. zea catches, with significant effects on temperature, rainfall, and wind speed. Five generations of H. zea are estimated to occur in the Florida Panhandle, with the first and last generations occurring in May and October, respectively. Moths trapped from November to March are likely from migratory populations. The contribution of these results to H. zea IPM/IRM will be discussed.