Preferences of matedHeliothis virescens andH. subflexa females for host and nonhost volatiles in a flight tunnel.

In flight-tunnel bioassays, mated femaleHeliothis subflexa (Gn.) moths demonstrated in dual-choice tests a significant preference for volatiles from an extract of their only known host,Physalis spp. (groundcherry). However,H. virescens (F.), a polyphagous species, responded positively by anemotaxis to extracts from susceptible tobacco, cotton,Desmodium tortuosum (host plants), and groundcherry, a nonhost.H. virescens females did not fly to volatiles emanating from an extract of a resistant tobacco cultivar.