- It is an insect known for being a pest in cotton farming.
- The pink bollworm is native to Asia, but has become an invasive species in most of the world’s cotton-growing regions.
- The female moth lays eggs in a cotton boll, and when the larvae emerge from the eggs, they inflict damage through feeding.
- Since cotton is used for both fiber and seed oil, the damage is twofold.
- Their disruption of the protective tissue around the boll is a portal of entry for other insects and fungi.
- Infestation on susceptible cotton is generally controlled with insecticides.
- Populations of bollworms are also controlled with mating disruption, chemicals, and releases of sterile males which mate with the females but fail to fertilize their eggs.