Kyle A. Fontenot1, B. R. Leonard2, J. Temple1, Paul P. Price3, and K.D. Emfinger2. (1) Louisiana State University, 402 Life Sciences Building, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, (2) LSU AgCenter, Macon Ridge Station, 212 Macon Ridge, Winnsboro, LA 71295, (3) LSU AgCenter, 212 Macon Ridge Road, Winnsboro, LA 71295
The tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), has remained a primary pest of cotton in the mid-southern United States during the last 10 years. Different strategies of IPM are currently recommended to control this pest. However, insecticides are the primary tools used in all of these programs. For chemical control strategies to be successful, proper timing of these applications is critical. Several sampling methods are used to estimate populations and/or damage levels for the action thresholds ultimately used to schedule insecticide applications. Some of the more recently registered classes of insecticides have novel modes of action, which make them more difficult to evaluate for actual performance compared to many of the older, common insecticides used in commercial cotton fields. Therefore, new or revised sampling protocols coupled with existing action thresholds are needed to successfully time applications of these new products. The objective of this study was to evaluate feeding evidence of tarnished plant bug on squares at different levels as a trigger to time insecticide applications.
