Biology and damage of the tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris, in cotton

摘要

Tarnished plant bug (TPB), Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), is a key pest of cotton in many states. Although this pest can damage cotton throughout most of the growing season, economic damage is most likely to occur during the period from first square through early bloom due to feeding on small squares and subsequent abscission of these squares. During this period, excessive damage by high TPB populations may result in reduced yields or delayed maturity. However, current research suggests that cotton can tolerate low levels of TPB damage without sustaining yield loss. Most states recommend monitoring both numbers of insects and percent square retention in order to obtain information on which to base TPB management decisions. The relative importance of TPB as a key pest of cotton is increasing due to a number of changes in cotton insect management systems. These include: development of insecticide resistance in TPB, boil weevil eradication, transgenic Bt cotton, and the development and availability of more target-specific foliar-applied insecticides.