Heliothinae, Boisduval, 1828

Cock, Matthew J. W., 2017, A preliminary catalogue of the moths (Lepidoptera except Papilionoidea) of Tobago, West Indies, Insecta Mundi 2017 (585), pp. 1-58 : 47

Subfamily Heliothinae

Helicoverpa zea (Boddie, 1850)

Identified by comparison with the NHMUK series. Cock (1985) records the release of parasitic wasps Chelonus formosanus Sonan (Braconidae) , Campoletis chlorideae Uchida (Ichneumonidae) and Telenomus remus Nixon (Scelionidae) in Tobago for biological control of ‘ Heliothis spp. ’ – i.e. Helicoverpa zea and Chloridea virescens (Fabricius) (below). These widespread polyphagous pests almost certainly occur in Tobago, but I have not located specimens or a more formal record.

Chloridea virescens (Fabricius, 1777)

Guppy’s (1910) report that he did not find tobacco bud moth on tobacco being grown near Scarborough in February 1909 is assumed to be a reference to this species. The current generic placement follows Pogue (2013). See comments under the preceeding species, H. zea , regarding the occurence of this species in Tobago.