Investigating Injury Relationships Between Verde Plant Bugs Feeding On Cotton Bolls; Boll Age, Boll Diameter and Accumulated Degree-Days

Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Royal (Orlando World Center Marriott)
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Royal (Orlando World Center Marriott)
Friday, January 6, 2012
Royal (Orlando World Center Marriott)
J. Scott Armstrong , USDA, ARS BIRU
Michael Brewer , Corpus Christi AgriLife Research and Extension Center
Roy D. Parker , Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Raul Villanueva , Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center-Weslaco
John Adamczyk , Beneficial Insects Research Unit
Our studies over a 2 years (2009 & 2010) and 2 locations (Weslaco and Corpus Christi, TX) investigated the relationship of feeding-injury of the verde plant bug, Creontiades signatus Distant, to a range of cotton boll age classes further defined by boll diameter and accumulated degree-days (anthesis to the time of infesting) for first-position cotton bolls infested (enclosed) with the plant bugs. The most detrimental damage (yield loss) to younger cotton bolls are when the boll abscises. Abscission rates for smaller cotton bolls, <150 ACDD, or to 1.5 cm in diameter was from 60 – 70 %.