Survival and Reproductive Capacity of the Tobacco Budworm,heliothis Virescens(lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Irradiated as Diapausing and Young Nondiapausing Pupae

Pupal survival, mating, and sperm transfer in tobacco budworms,Heliothis virescens(F.), irradiated as diapause pupae, decreased proportionately with increasing doses of 3, 5, and 7.5 krad. Also, the fertility of tobacco budworms irradiated as nondiapause pupae and of the F1progeny of such males decreased with increasing dose. When the female partner received eupyrene sperm, insects irradiated while the pupae were in diapause were fertile as were their progeny. Therefore, it does not appear plausible to irradiate diapause pupae of our strain of tobacco budworms to obtain sterile insects for a release program.