Season-long comparison of two sex pheromone baits for Heliothis virescens surveys

Two field tests were performed to determine relative effectiveness of commercially available plastic laminate-type pheromone dispensers and newly-developed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) block-type dispensers in attracting tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens (F.), males in wire cone traps. In both tests, traps baited with pheromone impregnated in PVC blocks caught significantly more moths than traps with the laminated bait. There was no significant difference in mean numbers caught between traps baited with PVC cut into blocks and PVC fashioned as surrogate-moth shapes or with two different batches (lots) of the laminated baits.