Bt resistance and ecology of 'Helicoverpa punctigera'

The project aims to provide improved understanding of the ecology of 'H. punctigera', especially immigration from non-cropping regions where there is no selection pressure from Bt cotton, notably inland Australia. Field surveys of inland regions during the winter breeding period will determine host plant responses to rainfall and abundance of 'Helicoverpa' larvae, and spring trapping studies and surveys in spring crops will estimate levels of migration. This project follows work in 2009 when we collaborated with Sharon Downes (CSIRO) to determine the extent of winter breeding of 'H. punctigera' in the floodplains of the Diamantina and Eyre Creek systems, and collect larvae for testing to determine whether Bt resistance was present in these populations. We have now conducted six field trips to far western Queensland, and established a network of pheromone traps serviced by local collaborators (notably schools) and permanent vegetation monitoring sites in a transect from Bourke to Birdsville and Bedourie.