Hostal Plant Preference for Oviposition by Trichoplusia ni, and Efficiency of Apanteles marginiventris as a Populational Regulator of T. ni in Field-Cage Tests123

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Abstract
Field-cage studies were conducted to determine hostal plant preference for oviposition by the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Hübner), and its relationship to effectiveness of biological control by Apanteles marginiventris (Cresson). For oviposition, moths preferred collards and cotton to broccoli, cauliflower, or cabbage. When crops were separated into 2 age groups, 21-week-old collards were preferred by T. ni over cauliflower or cabbage, and 15-week-old cotton and collard plants were preferred to broccoli, cabbage, or cauliflower. Significantly more eggs were deposited on 21-week-old broccoli and cauliflower plants than on 15-week-old plants of these species. A. marginiventris did not exhibit a crop preference for oviposition in T. ni. Parasitization by A. marginiventris was very low, which fact suggests that this braconid is an ineffective parasite of T. ni in northern Mississippi.

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