Helicoverpa armigera Insect Nocturnal Butterfly Moth Noctuidae

Helicoverpa armigera one wing lenght cm 1.5-2  Insect Nocturnal Butterfly Moth Noctuidae.
Family: Noctuidae.
Common name: The otton Bollworm, Corn Earworm, Old World (African) Bollworm, or Scarce Bordered Straw.
Syn. Chloridea armigera, Chloridea obsoleta, Helicoverpa commoni, Helicoverpa obsoleta, Heliothis armigera, Heliothis conferta, Heliothis fusca, Heliothis pulverosa, Heliothis rama, Heliothis uniformis, Noctua armigera, Noctua barbara.

Helicoverpa armigera is a species of lepidoptera in the Noctuidae family. The larvae feed on a wide range of plants, including many important cultivated crops. It is one of the main pests of cotton and one of the most polyphagous and cosmopolitan pest species, as it is a migratory species.
The body length varies between 12 and 20 millimeters with a wingspan of 30-40 millimeters.
The caterpillars are quite aggressive, occasionally carnivorous and can even cannibalize each other. If disturbed they fall from the plant and curl up on the ground.
The pupae develop inside a silky cocoon for 10-15 days in the soil at a depth of 4-10 centimeters, or in cotton bolls or ears of corn.
The cotton bollworm is a highly polyphagous species. The most important crop hosts are tomato, cotton, pigeon pea, chickpea, rice, sorghum and cowpea. Other hosts include peanuts, okra, peas, field beans, soybeans, alfalfa, Phaseolus spp., other legumes, tobacco, potatoes, corn, flax, Dianthus, Rose, Pelargonium, Chrysanthemum, Lavandula angustifolia, numerous fruit trees, forest trees, and a series of horticultural crops. In Russia and adjacent countries, the larvae populate more than 120 plant species, favoring the genera Solanum, Datura, Hyoscyamus, Atriplex and Amaranthus.
The greatest damage concerns cotton, tomatoes, corn, chickpeas, alfalfa and tobacco. The economic threshold of harmfulness in Central Asia is between three and five larvae per hundred long-fibre cotton plants and between eight and twelve larvae per hundred medium-fibre cotton plants. In cotton crops, attached flowers may open prematurely and remain fruitless. When the capsules are damaged, some will fall out and others will fail to produce lint or will produce lower quality lint. Secondary fungal and bacterial infections are common and can lead to fruit rot. Injury to the growing tips of plants can disturb their development, ripening can be delayed and fruits can drop. Control measures include the use of adultsicide, cultivation of resistant varieties, weeding, inter-row cultivation, removal of crop residues, deep autumn ploughing, winter irrigation to destroy pupae, use of insecticides or biological control through the release of entomophages such as Trichogramma spp. and Habrobracon hebetor. Monitoring is possible through the use of sex pheromone traps.