A Three-Year Study of Parasites of the Bollworm and the Tobacco Budworm in Mississippi12

Abstract
Several species of parasitic insects were reared from field-collected larvae of the bollworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie); and the tobacco budworm, H. viresens (F.). The parasites belong to the families Braconidae, Ichneumonidae, and Tachinidae. The predominant species throughout the study were 2 braconids, Microplitis croceipes (Cresson) and Cardioehiles nigriceps Viereck, the latter species being found only from H. virescens. Significant natural control of the 2 Heliothis species was derived from parasitic insects on all host plants studied except corn.