TOMATO FRUITWORM 
 
 
 a, Female moth (or adult) with wings spread; b, male moth with 
 wings in natural position; c, eggs; d, larva; e, pupa (or transforma- 
 tion stage) in its cell in the soil; /, larva feeding on tomato fruit, 
 showing typical injury, (a, b, and /about two-thirds natural size; 
 c about 7 times natural size; e about 1% times natural size.) 
 
 (See other side for life history and control) 
 
 Bureau of Entomology and Plant Q 
 United States Department of Agriculture 
 
 Picture Sheet No. 13 
 
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 
 
 3 1262 09082 4631 
 TOMATO FRU1TYYORM 
 (Heliothis armigera (Hbn.)) 
 
 Life History 
 
 The tomato fruitworm, or corn earworm, occurs over the entire 
 United Slates, being destructive to several crops besides tomatoes, 
 cotton, and corn. Annually it is a serious pest of tomatoes in the 
 Southern States and in California. Periodically it occurs in suffi- 
 cient numbers in other sections to cause considerable damage. In 
 the extreme South the moths may emerge as early as January from 
 the pupal cells which were formed in the ground by the larvae, or 
 "worms," the preceding fall. The majority, however, appear later 
 in the spring. Shortly after emergence the female moth begins to 
 lay her eggs. These eggs are somewhat smaller than the head of 
 a common pin and are laid singly on the leaves of the plant. The 
 larvae that hatch from these eggs crawl for a short time over the 
 leaves of the plant, feeding sparingly, and eventually find their way 
 to the fruits, into which they cut holes or burrow, usually at the 
 stem end. One worm may feed within a single tomato until full- 
 grown, or it may move from one tomato to another, injuring sev- 
 eral before it enters one to complete its growth. The full-grown 
 worms leave the fruit, enter the soil, and transform into the pupal 
 or resting stage. There may be two or more broods a season. 
 
 Control 
 
 The most satisfactory remedy so far developed for the control 
 of this pest is to apply to the tomato foliage either a cryolite or a 
 calcium arsenate dust or a mixture of corn meal and cryolite. The 
 commercial undiluted cryolites contain from 80 to 95 percent of 
 sodium fluoaluminate, and these should be diluted with talc so that 
 the dust which is applied to the crop will contain approximately 70 
 percent of the sodium fluoaluminate. The corn meal mixture is pre- 
 pared by mixing 1 pound of cryolite with 10 pounds of corn meal. 
 The calcium arsenate is used undiluted. 
 
 The most satisfactory control will be obtained by making three 
 applications of either the cryolite or calcium arsenate dust. The 
 first application should be made when the plants average from 1 to 2 
 feet across. The second and third applications should follow at 
 intervals of 10 to 15 days. On tomato fields with an average of 
 1,000 plants per acre the dust should be applied at the following rate 
 per acre: 10 pounds for the first, 20 pounds for the second, and 30 
 pounds for the last application. The dust should be so applied that 
 it will cover all the foliage, especially the growing tips and outer 
 leaves of the plant. The corn meal bait should be used at the fol- 
 lowing rate per acre: 40 pounds for the first, 60 pounds for the 
 second, and 80 pounds for the third application. 
 
 Caution: Cryolite and calcium arsenate are poisons, and their 
 use as insecticides on the tomato crop may leave an undesirable 
 residue on the fruit,, which should be removed by either washing 
 or wiping before the fruit is marketed or eaten. 
 
 February L941 w-iooee U. S. Government Printing Office 
 
 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. — Price 5 cents