A moth (Pectinophora gossypiella) whose caterpillars bore into cotton bolls and feed on the developing seeds and lint, native to South Asia and now established in cotton-growing regions across Asia, Africa and the Americas. It was one of the principal early targets of Bt cotton, and while that technology suppressed it for two decades in India and the United States, populations resistant to the Cry1Ac toxin emerged in both countries during the 2010s, renewing its status as a major threat to cotton production.
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Cotton, Crops The pink bollworm is a major quarantine insect pest that bores into cotton bolls, damaging lint and seed.
Sources
1. Pink Bollworm (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationOpening definition paragraph
The pink bollworm is an insect known for being a pest in cotton farming. The adult is a small, thin, gray moth with fringed wings. The larva is a dull white caterpillar with eight pairs of legs with conspicuous pink banding along its dorsum. The larva reaches one half inch in length.
lead description
A moth (Pectinophora gossypiella) whose caterpillars bore into cotton bolls and feed on the developing seeds and lint, native to South Asia and now established in cotton-growing regions across Asia, Africa and the Americas.
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