Intra and Inter-Crop Movement of Tarnished Plant Bugs

Abstract: A key economic and primary pest of cotton in the mid south is the tarnished plant bug (TPB), Lygus lineolaris (Hemiptera: Miridae). It is believed that early season crops like corn plays a major role in building up TPB populations which moves to nearby cotton fields when it’s squaring. Populations within cotton fields are often much higher near a corn field, but the degree of movement between corn and cotton, or the range at which corn influences movement is not known. A better understanding of this movement could play a key role in managing TPB. We have conducted an experiment using two marking techniques to address these questions. First we released lab reared- marked bugs (with chicken egg albumen protein) in corn, cotton and at the corn-cotton interface and sampled the habitats at a distance of 2, 5, 10, and 16 mts from the release line, 1, 3 and 6^th days after release. For the 2^nd marking technique we sprayed the corn and cotton habitats using the same chicken egg albumen protein. The interface was sprayed with two different proteins, chicken egg albumen on the cotton and soybean milk on the corn. Habitats were sampled the same way as done in the lab reared mark- release- recapture technique. Field collected samples were identified for the protein markers present on them using an ELISA (Enzyme linked ImmunoSorbent Assay) protocol. The marked TPB caught at different distances on different dates will be presented in relation to TPB movement in time and space in corn, cotton and at the interface of these two crops.

Keywords: tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris, cotton, corn, chicken egg albumen, protein, ELISA