Ehtisham Ali Hussain University College Of Agriculture, University Of Sargodha, Sargodha For more Topics Contact.., shamu.hassan.eh@gmail.com

1. Insect Pests of
Agricultural Crops
Insect Pests of Cotton
In the name of Allah, the most Merciful and the most Beneficent

2. Ehtisham Hussain
BAGF15E258
University College Of Agriculture,
University Of Sargodha, Sargodha

3. American Bollworm
Technical Name:
Helicoverpa armigera
(Noctuidae; Lepidoptera)
Major pest of Cotton

4. Identification:
 Moth- yellowish brown in colour with a
black kidney shape mark on the underside of the
forewings
 larvae- greenish with dark brown grey lines

5. Larva
Adult
Egg

6. Life Cycle of American Bollworm:
LarvaAdult
Egg
Pupae
After hatching
young larvae
feed in foliage
egg hatches
in one weekLays eggs singly
on tender plants
There are 8 generations of this pest in a year
Bores into bolls
and feed on them,
with its body
hanging outside
Larvae full fed,
they come out of
the boll and
pupate in the soil
Pupa is dark
brown with sharp
spine at the
posterior end

7. Damage:
 Caterpillar are polyhagous
 Feed on foliage and on the bolls of cotton
 Reduce yield
 Show prominent hole
 Dirty faeces accumulate on the boll surface
 Damage in patches

10. Control:
 Avoid the cultivation of okra, arhar,
moong, castor and dhaincha in and around the
cotton crop
 Avoid growing of American cotton in the
field
 Ichneumonid wasp, larval parasitoid of
American bollworm should be promoted in
the field
 Spray profenofos EC 800 ml/acre

11. Other host:
 Chickpea
 Vegetables
Distribution:
Pakistan as well as many countries of South
Asia