Climate Change Poses Threat to Helicoverpa zea Boddie (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Increasing global temperature causes both biotic and abiotic stresses on living organisms. Changing climates have an effect on the existence of pests in various agro-climatic regions throughout the country. Abiotic factors, including temperature, humidity, and rainfall, trigger physiological changes in plants, herbivores, and their biocontrol agents. Climate change impacts the abundance, dispersal, prevalence, reproduction, growth, development, voltinism, and phenology of insects. It also alters plant defense and resistance against microbial pesticides, chemical insecticides, alien pests, and insect-resistant Bt expressing genetically modified plants. The destructive noctuid, Helicoverpa zea, is the endemic pest of the American continent. It is a multivoltine and polyphagous feeder of more than 100 crops and caused severe economic losses in the major agricultural and horticultural crops. Changing climates influenced the distribution, abundance, life history traits, fitness parameters, and damage potential of H. zea. This chapter aims to deliver an outline of the impact of changing climates on insect pest incidence, pest categorization, life history traits, damage potential, expansion risk, herbivore plant interaction, insect-resistant transgenic crops, and management aspects with special reference to H. zea.