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Helicoverpa zea



Helicoverpa zea

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Noctuidae
Genus: Helicoverpa
Species: H. zea
Binomial name
Helicoverpa zea
(Boddie, 1850)

The larva of the moth Helicoverpa zea (formerly in the genus Heliothis) is a major agricultural pest. It can feed on many different plants (i.e. it is polyphagous) during the larval stage. Accordingly, the species has been given many different common names; when the larva consumes cotton, it is known as the cotton bollworm (see the image on the left), when it consumes corn, it is known as the corn earworm, and when it consumes tomatoes, it is known as the tomato fruitworm. It has also been known to consume many other crops. The adult moth is a pollinator and it is pictured on the right engaging in this process.

  The impact of this pest has been and continues to be significant, especially because of the wide range of crops attacked, and the natural abundance of the species in the wild.

Helicoverpa armigera, a close relative of H. zea, is a major cotton bollworm in Asia.

The insidious flower bug (Orius insidiosus), a pirate bug, feeds on the eggs of H. zea, thus acting as a biological control agent.

 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Helicoverpa_zea". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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