SURVIVAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRUE ARMYWORM PSEUDALETIA-UNIPUNCTA (HAWORTH) (LEPIDOPTERA, NOCTUIDAE), ON ENDOPHYTE-INFECTED AND ENDOPHYTE-FREE TALL FESCUE

True armyworms, Pseudaletia unipuncta (Haworth), were fed tall fescue leaves either infected or uninfected with the symbiotic fungus, Acremonium coenophialum Morgan-Jones and Gams. Young larvae fed endophyte-infected leaves weighed less than cohorts fed endophyte-free leaves, but developmental and survival rates were unaffected by endophyte infection. Older instar larvae fed endophyte-infected leaves weighed the same as those larvae fed endophyte-free leaves. Pupal weights also were unaffected by endophyte infection. These results were similar to recent studies conducted with other armyworm species and suggest that endophyte infection in tall fescue does not enhance resistance to a number of lepidopteran larvae.