Joseph Wilcox
Published: 1956
Total Pages: 50
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The tomato fruitworm (Heliothis zea (Boddie) is the most serious pest of tomatoes in the United States, particularly in the southern half of the country where it does some damage every season. This insect is also injurious to beans, cabbage, lettuce, pepper, tobacco, and other cultivated crops, and is one of the most, if not the most, destructive pest to agricultural crops in the country. Interest in improvement of methods for the control of this insect on tomatoes was accelerated in 1935 by the finding of worm fragments in canned products, which were subsequently seized and destroyed as contaminated foods by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Studies on the seasonal history and control of the tomato fruitworm on tomatoes were conducted in southern California, Utah, and Ohio beginning in 1936. This bulletin reports some of the major findings. Most of the data are from the California experiments; results from Utah and Ohio are so indicated.