Plant Bug Management in Mississippi

The Tarnished Plant Bug (TPB) is a true bug that belongs to the Family Miridae. There are many species of this insect found in North America with populations ranging from central Alaska and Newfoundland reaching as far south as southern Mexico. The TPB, Lygus lineolaris,is the most common one found in the eastern United States and usually just referred to as the Tarnished Plant Bug. The TPB fulfills a gradual life cycle, in which the nymph molts five times before reaching the completed adult stage. Each time the nymph molts is referred to as the instar stage of the insect. This reproductive process produces several generations of TPB’s per year, influentially dependent of the weather conditions. Tarnished plant bugs possess piercing-sucking mouthparts with feeding habits limited to the leaves, stems, and the fruiting bodies of a wide variety of plant species (Nordlund 1-3) Lygus lineolaris, is the most common tarnished plant bug found in the Mississippi Delta. This species is well known for the damages it infers on cotton.