ASSESSMENT OF TOBACCO LOSSES CAUSED BY THE DARK-SIDED CUTWORM, EUXOA MESSORIA (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE), DELHI, ONTARIO

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Abstract
Intensive studies on the damage and losses of flue-cured tobacco caused by the dark-sided cutworm, Euxoa messoria (Harris), were carried out in the field at Delhi, Ont., during 1967 and 1968. A new method for estimating the accurate tobacco crop losses is illustrated. Assessment of damage of the tobacco plant and the population density in relation to the yield are described. The yield was significantly related, negatively, to the dark-sided cutworm density, and was reduced in the cutworm-damaged blocks in comparison with the yield in the undamaged check blocks. Assessment of average losses caused by the species was 17% of marketable tobacco, which, based on the average current prices, would amount to 200 dollars per acre or approximately 25 million dollars over the country as a whole every year.