Pheromone Trapping As a Monitoring Tool of Brown Stink Bug, Euschistus Servus Movement within Cotton Fields

As plants senesce or are harvested, numbers of Brown stink bug, Euschistus servus will migrate from crops that act as host plants, such as; shrubs, vines, many broadleaf weeds, legumes, corn, soybean, sorghum, okra, millet, snap beans, peas, into nearby susceptible crops such as cotton.  The presence of host crops in close proximity to susceptible crops (ie. cotton) increases the difficulty of managing Brown stink bugs in cotton. Repeated insecticide applications, necessitated by migration from host crops, are not only costly, but increase the possibility of secondary pest outbreaks. Brown stink bugs can be found across all of southern Canada, much of North America and often throughout the year in parts of the southern U.S. Euschistus servus occurs throughout North America with two subspecies. Euschistus s. servus (Say) occurs throughout the southeastern U.S. from Florida through Louisiana to California, E. s. euschistoides (Voltenhoven) occurs across Canada and the northern U.S.

In 2013, damage to cotton from E. servus resulted in a 25-30% yield reduction which required repeated pesticide applications.  Typical cotton insecticide applications in Southern California range from 3 – 4 applications.  However, in 2013, infestations of cotton by the Sweetpotato Whitefly Biotype B, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) and E. servus resulted in ≈ 11 combined applications.  To better implement an area-wide integrated pest management (IPM) program for E. servus, more information is needed concerning the influence that host crops have on E. servus populations. Insects are known to have directed movement towards preferred host plants