quarantine areas. It was found that there were up to 70 times more adult beetles 

 captured in light than in chemically baited traps. 



Adults of the pumpkin caterpillar (Diaphania indica ) were first reported in light 

 traps in Florida in 1959. However, upon reexamining collections of this genus, a speci- 

 men of this species was found to have been collected in Gainesville, Fla., in 1946. 

 Apparently no attention was given to the occurrence of this caterpillar until light trap 

 collections showed it to be found in a number of counties in Florida (USDA, CEIR, Jan. 

 8, 1960). 



Numbers of specimens of Gonodonta pyrgo (Cramer), belonging to the group of fruit- 

 piercing moths, were taken in a light trap in the summer of 1959 at the Texas Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station at Weslaco, Tex. This species is being closely watched as 

 it has been previously reported as causing damage to orange and grapefruit in Panama by 

 Zeteck in 1940, and later in Nicaragua in 1958 (Todd 1959). Gonodonta bidens Geyer was 

 also reported for the first time in the United States, a specimen having been taken in a 

 light trap at Weslaco on January 1, 1954. This species has also caused damage to citrus 

 fruits in Mexico (Riherd and Wene 1955). 



Traps have been used in cottonseed warehouses to detect any infestation in the seed. 

 As early as 1920, Ballou used lamps for collecting pink bollworm moths in a large ware- 

 house in Egypt, where cottonseed was stored, and collected several thousand moths in 8 

 days. 



It is reported that several canning companies in Wisconsin used light traps in 1957 

 for detecting specific insects (USDA 809-58). 



POPULATION CHANGES OR TRENDS 



Considerable work was in progress in 1952 in collecting pink bollworm moths with 

 light traps. These light trap studies were conducted in the Rio Grande Valley at San 

 Benito, Tex., to determine the presence of the pink bollworm, and to correlate these find- 

 ings with the degree of infestation occurring throughout the summer (Glick and Hollings- 

 worth 1954). From April until June, few moths were collected. An excessively dry winter 

 delayed the emergence of the moths. During May, nearly 6 inches of rain was recorded 

 in the San Benito area, and in June about 2.5 inches. This amount of moisture, together 

 with a rise in temperature, accelerated emergence of moths during this period. The 

 emergence of these moths and the development of succeeding generations produced the 

 large numbers taken in the light traps during July and August. In eight traps the monthly 

 records per trap per night were 0.4 in March, 0.5 in May, 2.4 in June, 983.0 in July,. and 

 484.8 in August. The high catches in July and August reflected the seasonal buildup in the 

 pink bollworm population and maturity of the cotton. After stalk destruction date of 

 August 31, the number of moths taken per night dropped to 31.9 in September, and 0.45 

 in October. 



Light traps were also used in the Corpus Christi area, at Port Lavaca, Taft, 

 Robstown, and Kenedy, from August to November 1952. Infestation was very heavy in this 

 area, with the peak of trap collections in August, or a month later than the peak for the 

 San Benito area. 



In September 1952, black-light traps were placed in northeastern Texas along the 

 Oklahoma-Texas Stateline, in the counties of Red River, Lamar, Fannin, Hopkins, and 

 Bowie. In October, three moths were taken, one in each of the counties of Fannin, Lamar, 

 and Red River (Glick and Hollings worth, 1954). At that time these counties were not 

 known to be infested -with pink bollworm, and these findings indicated a spread from in- 

 fested areas to the south and southwest. 



45 



