In experiments on hornworms, Morgan and 
Lyon (1928) found that amyl salicylate was at- 
tractive to moths, and they developed methods 
of using this bait to trap them, They reported 
that when six traps were placed in and around 
a 16-acre field of tobacco in Tennessee, the 
population of eggs and larvae was 2,63 per 
plant as compared with 6,67 in surrounding 
fields, The next year in a field with eight 
traps per 8 acres, there were 4,1 hornworms 
as compared with 6,3 in the controls, 
Gilmore and Milam (1933), also working in 
Tennessee, tested the same attractant in de- 
vices containing sugar water andtartar emetic, 
Moths feeding from these containers were 
killed, Feeders were placed at different 
densities near tobacco fields in areas ranging 
from 9 to 25 square miles, The percent reduc- 
tion in hornworm populations averaged 51,7 
in 1929, 68.9 in 1930, and 53.7 in 1931. Scott 
and Milam (1943), again workingin Tennessee, 
tested traps and poisoned feeders with the same 
attractant in a randomized-block experiment 
consisting of nine treated plots each 1 square 
mile in area, The results showed reductions in 
numbers of eggs laid amounting to 62,6 per- 
cent in trapped plots and 66,3 in baited plots, 
Stahl (1954) tested bait traps and electric- 
light traps in North Carolina, He stated: 
"Field studies indicated that the use of either 
bait or light traps had little effect on the 
abundance of and damage caused by hornworm 
larvae on tobacco at or near the traps," 
For 3 years in succession Stanley and 
Dominick (1958) placed three black-light traps 
on each of three tobacco fields of about 5 
acres in Virginia, The average reduction in 
number of plants damaged by hornworms was 
about 16 percent, 
Research has been conducted in southern 
Indiana on tobacco farms with favorable results, 
Traps are recommended in that State for con- 
trol of hornworms on tobacco if placed so that 
the tobacco plants are within 110 feet of the 
traps with 15-watt black-light lamp attractant 
(Purdue University, 1961), 
PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATIONS 
Lawson et al, (1963) found that bait traps 
failed to catch hornworm moths before June 
10, 1961, although moths were caught in light 
195 
traps, Later in the season the catch of bait 
traps was very low compared with that in light 
traps, In the same year, these authors placed 
14 light traps in a circular area having a l- 
mile radius, with an additional trap 2.43 miles 
distant from the center, They then released 
3,087 moths at the center of the area or about 
2 miles from the center, and 3,0 percent were 
recaptured, There was no relation between 
distance from the point of release and the 
rate of recapture; the trap at 2,43 miles caught 
nearly as many moths as traps near the point 
of release, In one test, 218 moths were re- 
leased within 50 feet of a trap; 42 (19.3 per- 
cent) were recaptured in this trap and 9 were 
taken in more distant traps, 
From these results it was apparent that 
hornworm moths were traveling considerable 
distances and were not always caught when they 
flew within a few feet of a light trap, The 
comparatively high catch of marked moths in 
the most distant trap suggested that the low 
rate of recapture may have been because the 
area was so small that moths flew all the way 
through it without being captured, To testthis, 
the same 14 traps were relocated in a much 
larger area at distances ranging from 0,89 to 
4,36 miles from the release point, with six 
additional traps placed at various intervals 
ranging from 2 to 10 miles of the release 
point, In this test 4,582 marked moths were 
released and 11.7 percent recaptured, Further- 
more, there was a definite relation between 
the distance of the trap from the point of re- 
lease and the number recaptured, 
Lawson et al, (1963) published curves show- 
ing this relation for males, The number of 
females recaptured was too low to give a 
significant regression, but the plot resembled 
the male graph, The regression equations were 
log Y = 2.21531 - 0.4916 X for P, sexta 
and log Y = 1,1314 - 0,1673 X for P quin- 
quemaculata, where Y is the number of males 
recaptured and X is the distance from the 
point of release in miles, By substituting ap- 
propriate values in the equation, it can be 
calculated that the number of P, sexta males 
recaptured was reduced 50 percent with 
each 0,61 mile increasing distance, P. quin- 
quemaculata was reduced the same amount in 
1,80 miles, Many moths flew 3 to 4 miles ina 
single night, The greatest distance hornworms 
have been known to travel was 6,3 miles for 

