J. F. Smith, Angus Catchot, and Fred Musser. Mississippi State University, Box 9775, Mississippi State, MS 39762
The two spotted spider mite has become a frequent pest of cotton across the mid-south. Beginning in 2007, we took a broad approach to address several issues in spider mite management. The first issue we tackled was determining causes of early-season mite buildups. From April through May, wild hosts were sampled at several locations. Henbit was found to be primary host in most locations. Also, the impacts of seed treatments and Temik were measured under field conditions. There was a lot of variation in the data resulting in insignificant differences, but it seemed that Temik had some activity through the 3 or 4 leaf stage. On 4 out of 7 samples dates in 4 trials, mite densities were highest on cotton with neonicotinoid seed treatments. Lastly, yield was measured in 2 production fields that developed late-season mite infestations. Yield was reduced by as much as 50% in cotton with high mite densities compared to adjacent area showing minimal visual damage.
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