Abstract: The flight capacity of adult cotton bollworms Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner)developed from the larvae collected separately from cotton, corn, peanut, mungbean and sesame fields and from those fed separately on cotton leaf, square and boll and artificial dietwere tested. The result indicated that the order of host plants and diets in relation to flight capacity of adult followed cotton(boll＞square＞leaf)/corn＞peanut＞mungbean/sesame and artificial dite. In. diet series concerning the flight energy of the adults, the effect of the best food may exceed more than two times that of the most inferior food. The flight distance increased with the body weight of the moth, and the flight capacity of moths with complementary nutrition was about two times as much as those without adult nutrition. It was foundthat the maturation process of eggs in the moths derived from cotton leaf reared larvae was significantly prolonged in comparison with that from cotton boll reared larvae. The result also showed that the flight capacity of moths was irrelevant to the density of their larvae. Since the flight capacities of moths were not improved by poor food and high density in larval stage, it was suggested that the long-distance movement of cotton bollworm is an important behavioral response of adults to other disadvantageous environmental factors.

Key words: cotton bollworm, flight capacity, food quality, larval density