Cultural Control Tactics to Influence Early Season Spatial Distribution of Lygus Lineolaris in Midsouth Cotton

Site-specific, zone management practices for agronomic inputs are prevalent on farms in Midsouth cotton; however, use of precision approaches for insect control are lacking. In spatially variable agriculture fields, one benefit of field stratification into management zones would be improvement of plant and pest sampling and management precision. Crop protection tactics then could be customized for particular zones. Research to evaluate use of cultural control tactics and practical decision-making aids for zone designation is on-going in northeastern Arkansas. The work includes zone classifications based on landscape features that effect risk of pest infestations. Summarized in this paper are results from a 2-year study of seeding rate and cultivar effects on early season colonization of Lygus lineolaris 1^st generation adults. Extensive in-season plant and insect monitoring was used to evaluate the spatial and temporal variation in Lygus infestation levels and first position square and fruit retention. Sticky cards also were evaluated as an indicator of Lygus presence and movement into the study area, a 35 acre commercial cotton field in Mississippi County. Ultimately, our research focus is to examine potential for using planting configurations and cultivar selection as a trap crop tactic in a site-specific insect pest managment plan.