Species Composition of Heliothines on Wild Host Plants in the Mississippi Delta

The bollworm and tobacco budworm (heliothines) have historically been two of the most important caterpillar pests of cotton in the Southern U.S. Wild host plants play an important role in the potential build-up of populations infesting cotton in the summer and also on harboring individuals that enter diapause in the fall.  Crimson clover and hophornbeam copperleaf were sampled over multiple years and the numbers of each species at a collection site are reported.