Introduction
Helicoverpa armigera is also known as Heliothis armigera, Heliothis absoleta, Chlirodea armigera and Chlorida obsolete (EPPO 2010). Preferred common name for H. armigera is cotton bollworm. In some books and literatures, authors may cite different common names such as corn earworm, gram pod borer and Old World Bollworm.
Taxanomic position for H. armigera is as follows:
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Metazoa
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Uniramia
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Noctuidae
Genus: Helicoverpa
Species: Helicoverpa armigera
Taxanomic position for H. armigera is as follows:
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Metazoa
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Uniramia
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Noctuidae
Genus: Helicoverpa
Species: Helicoverpa armigera
Geographical distribution
H. armigera can be found in most part of the world, namely most Asian countries, most part of Africa, European countries and Oceania, including Australia. Czepak et al. (2013) recently reported its first occurrence of H. armigera in Brazil, South America. Figure 1 shows the distribution map of H. armigera, adapted from CABI (2013).
Figure 1: Distribution map of H. armigera
Image courtesy of http://www.cabi.org/cpc/?compid=1&dsid=26757&loadmodule=datasheet&page=868&site=161
Image courtesy of http://www.cabi.org/cpc/?compid=1&dsid=26757&loadmodule=datasheet&page=868&site=161
Host plants
H. armigera is considered as polyphagous species. It has been reported that H. armigera larvae attack more than 60 species of cultivated and wold host plants, including Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Malvaceae, Poaceae and Solanaceae families (Fitt 1989, EPPO 2010, CABI 2013). Matthews (1999) mentioned that in Australia, at least 34 families are host plants to H. armigera.
H. armigera become an important pest of concern in most countries due to its ability to cause economic losses in main commercial crops such as cotton, maize, legumes, tomato and ornamental plants (McCaffery 1998, Moral Garcia 2006, Pal & Sarkar 2009).
H. armigera become an important pest of concern in most countries due to its ability to cause economic losses in main commercial crops such as cotton, maize, legumes, tomato and ornamental plants (McCaffery 1998, Moral Garcia 2006, Pal & Sarkar 2009).