Pink Bollworm
Pectinophora gossypiella
high risk
insect
Overview
The most important pest of cotton worldwide in the Old World, the Pink Bollworm is the primary reason for insecticide use in cotton-growing countries across South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Larvae bore into cotton bolls and feed on seeds, destroying both lint quality and seed yield.
Adult moths are small, 8–10 mm wingspan, grey-brown with fringed wings at rest closely resembling bark. Larvae are distinctive bright pink with a darker dorsal stripe, 12 mm when mature. Pupae found in soil or seed coat of old cotton bolls.
Prevention Strategies
- •Use Bt cotton varieties that produce Cry1Ac toxin (controls >95% of larvae)
- •Implement strict crop-free period between seasons to break life cycle
- •Destroy crop residues immediately after harvest
- •Pheromone traps for adult monitoring and mass trapping
- •Avoid storing infested cottonseed near new season crops
Control Methods
- •Transgenic Bt cotton (widespread in India, China, Pakistan — highly effective)
- •Pheromone mating disruption in smaller plantings
- •Sterile insect technique (SIT) — used successfully in Arizona USA and Israel
- •Insecticide: spinosad, emamectin benzoate for late-stage outbreaks
- •Trichogramma egg parasitoid releases
Interesting Facts
- •Bt cotton reduced insecticide use in India by 50% and Pink Bollworm damage by 95% after its introduction
- •However, resistance to Bt has now appeared in Gujarat, India, making this an evolving pest management challenge
- •The Sterile Insect Technique program in the Nile Valley (Egypt) reduced populations by 99.9%
- •Before Bt cotton, Pink Bollworm was responsible for 40% of all cotton insecticide use globally