Local dispersal of maleHelicoverpa zea

Local dispersal ofHelicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) males as they emerged following the F₁ and F₂ generations in dent corn was examined in a 4 km diam. area in South Carolina, USA. Males were marked at artificial nectar feeding stations using RbCl, and recovered in traps baited with a synthetic pheromone. Effects of nocturnal boundary layer winds, crop pattern at the pheromone traps, and crop pattern between the marking area and pheromone traps were examined. Local movement of captured male moths was predominantly downwind in both flights in both years of the study. Crop pattern at the traps had no effect on capture of marked moths. During some flights, flowering crops between the marking area and traps had a negative effect on the number of marked moths captured.