An official website of the United States government.
Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner, 1809) (Pogue 2004)
Old World bollworm (OWB), cotton bollworm, African bollworm
Found throughout all of the Old World between 40°N and 40°S (Nibouche et al. 1998)
In September 2014, the first U.S. detection of OWB occurred in western Puerto Rico (Tembrock et al. 2019)
Frequently intercepted at U.S. ports of entry on imported cut flowers and herbs (Pogue 2004)
Feeds on a large range of plant hosts and could cause serious economic losses to corn and cotton in the U.S. (Tay et al. 2013)
Not currently established
Old world bollwworm, cotton bollworm; Photo by Paolo Mazzei
Find more images
Selected Resources
The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source.
Partnership
Federal Government
International Government
State and Local Government
Professional
Nibouche, S., R. Buès, J. Toubon, and S. Poitout. 1998. Allozyme polymorphism in the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae): comparison of African and European populations. Heredity 80:438-445.
Pogue, M.G. 2004. A new synonym of Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) and differentiation of adult males of H. zea and H. armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Heliothinae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 97(6):1222-1226.
Tay W.T., M.F. Soria, T. Walsh, D. Thomazoni, P. Silvie, G.T. Behere, C. Anderson, and S. Downes. 2013. A brave new world for an Old World pest: Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Brazil. PLoS ONE 8(11): e80134.
Tembrock, L.R., A.E. Timm, F.A. Zink, and T.M. Gilligan. 2019. Phylogeography of the recent expansion of Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in South America and the Caribbean Basin. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 112(4): 388–401.