Boll Injury and Yield Losses in Cotton Associated with Brown Stink Bug (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) during Flowering

Abstract

Brown stink bug, Euschistus servus (Say), was infested on cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., plants during reproductive stages to determine the effects on boll injury and seedcotton yield. During each week in 2002 and 2003, significantly more bolls with > or = 1 injured locule, bolls with > or = 2 injured locules, and bolls with discolored lint were recorded on stink bug-infested plants compared with that on noninfested plants. Significantly fewer bolls displayed external injury on the boll exocarp compared with bolls with only internal locule injury. Boll injury was significantly underestimated by the presence of external symptomology. The boll population increased 6.6- and 5.1-fold from weeks 1-5 in 2002 and 2003, respectively. There was a corresponding 6.2- and 4.6-fold increase in 2002 and 2003, respectively, for total bolls injured from weeks 1-5. Percentage of boll injury ranged from 10.7 (week 4) to 27.4 (week 2) in 2002 and from 9.2 (week 3) to 16.0 (week 2) in 2003. Percentage of injury was greatest during weeks 1 and 2 in both years and also in week 5 in 2002. Brown stink bug significantly reduced seedcotton yield of bolls present on cotton plants during weeks 1, 2, and 5 in 2002 and in weeks 4 and 5 in 2003. However, total seedcotton yield, as a function of bolls exposed to brown stink bug and subsequent bolls produced on plant in the absence of stink bugs, was not significantly different for plots infested during weeks 1-4 in 2002 and weeks 1-3 in 2003. Flowering period and boll population influence the severity of stink bug injury on seedcotton yield. Infestation timing and number of bolls should be considered, in addition to insect densities, when initiating treatments against brown stink bug.

Cotton Boll Age Influences Feeding Preference by Brown Stink Bug (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

“…Brown stink bug adults were collected from soybean, Glycine max (L.), and held for Ϸ24 h before infestation during each week (Willrich et al 2004a). Translucent Þeld cages (32 nylon mesh per linear centimeter, Synthetic Industries, Greenville, GA) were placed over each cotton plot and then stink bugs were placed within the plots designated to be infested (Willrich et al 2004b).…”

“…Sampling bolls that are most likely to exhibit signs of injury during each week of ßowering could improve a crop managerÕs sampling efÞciency and conÞdence in making appropriate decisions. Data reported in this manuscript are a component of previously reported data that described the total level of boll injury caused by brown stink bug to cotton during each of the initial 5 wk of ßowering (Willrich et al 2004b). , Newport Beach, CA) before the initiation of infestations and after cages were removed from cotton plants.…”

Principles and Practices of Integrated Pest Management on Cotton in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas

“…The most frequently encountered species are the southern green stinkbug, Nezara viridula (L.), the green stinkbug, Acrosternum hilare (Say), and the brown stinkbug, Euschistus servus (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). These three species are considered the primary targets for a significant number of insecticide applications applied to cotton (Williams, 2008), most notably in the mid-south and southern c o t t o n r e g i o n s a n d h a v e a l s o b e e n a s s o c i a t e d w i t h e l e v a t e d p e s t s t a t u s f o l l o w i n g B W eradication (Green et al, 1999;Turnipseed et al, 2004;Willrich et al, 2004). However, in Texas, the diversity of species seems to be broader from central Texas to the Lower-Gulf Coast region south of Corpus Christi, and includes the rice stinkbug (RSB), Oebalus pugnax (F.); in the LRGV, Winter Garden area, and in far west Texas, there is the Conchuela stinkbug, Chlorochroa ligata (Say) (Muegge, 2002).…”

Fidelity of External Boll Feeding Lesions to Internal Damage for Assessing Stink Bug Damage in Cotton

“…Previously, Bundy et al (2000) examined individual bolls in the laboratory after caging stink bugs on them for 48 h; they found no relationship between the number of external feeding lesions (dark colored concave spots on the outside of the boll) and internal warts. Additional research focused on the correlation between sunken external feeding lesions and internal warts, damaged seeds, and destroyed locks (Willrich et al 2004, Blinka et al 2008b. Boll injury was underestimated by external lesions according to Willrich et al (2004), whereas Blinka et al (2008b) found positive correlations between external and internal damage and noted that the probability of internal damage increased rapidly with number of external lesions per boll.…”

“…Additional research focused on the correlation between sunken external feeding lesions and internal warts, damaged seeds, and destroyed locks (Willrich et al 2004, Blinka et al 2008b. Boll injury was underestimated by external lesions according to Willrich et al (2004), whereas Blinka et al (2008b) found positive correlations between external and internal damage and noted that the probability of internal damage increased rapidly with number of external lesions per boll. Building on the latter Þnding, Blinka et al (2008a) compared the time required to collect and process 100 bolls in a commercial Þeld using internal symptoms and external lesions.…”