Combinations of Blacklight and Virgin Females as Attractants to Cabbage Looper Moths134

Abstract

When traps fitted with a blacklight lamp were baited with caged virgin female cabbage looper moths, Trichoplusia ni (Hübner), increased numbers of male cabbage looper moths were caught compared with numbers in similar unbaited traps. The numbers of male moths caught in the baited traps increased as the number of virgin females was increased. Virgin females placed as much as 40 feet from the trap increased the numbers of male moths caught. The number of moths caught was not increased when male cabbage loopers were used as bait or when the dispersal of the female sex pheromone was prevented. Male cabbage looper moths had a definite peak of nocturnal activity, measured by trap catches during the known period of maximum mating activity.