Cotton flea hoppers were collected from various weed hosts and cotton at periodic intervals during the 2005 cotton growing seasons in Texas. Insects were washed individually in sterile water which was then used to inoculate 13- to 15-day-old cotton bolls. Most male and female flea hoppers in each of seven collections yielded sufficient opportunistic bacteria to cause severe seed rot and occasionally boll rot of cotton. The causal bacteria were characterized using API 20E test strips and a fatty acid profile analysis, and shown to be mostly Pantoea spp. Because flea hoppers feed on the pin head squares, they may be an important source of early contamination of bolls with potential seed rotting pathogens.