Technical Abstract: Retention of bolls and squares (referred to as fruit retention), boll damage, and resulting cotton lint and seed weight loss were assessed when two (2010) and three (2011) age classes of sympodial fruiting branches with different ages of squares and bolls where exposed to verde plant bug, Creontiades signatus Distant (Hemiptera: Miridae), in branch cages in the field. A strong upward trend was observed in fruit retention from the youngest to the oldest branch age treatment for both years. Low fruit retention (< 20%) was seen in young bolls < 7 d old in the first two fruiting positions from the main stem compared with > 80% retention in controls not exposed to verde plant bug. In infested cages, fruit retention of these young bolls was significantly lower than fruit retention of older bolls and squares within 2-3 days of bloom and younger. Similar to fruit retention results, damage of harvested bolls and lint and seed weight (using zero for abscised fruit) differed among the age classes of infested branches and uninfested controls primarily for fruiting positions one (2010 and 2011) and two (2011). The first two fruiting positions were the main contributors to plant productivity differences seen in lint and seed weight. Overall, verde plant bugs when given a feeding choice reduced fruit retention in young bolls < 7 d old, damaged retained bolls < 11 d old, and larger bolls and young squares at least 2-3 d from bloom incurred significant less abscission and damage. These results supported the interpretation that low fruit retention and high damage of young bolls justified a focus on protecting young bolls in a pest management program, especially during early to peak bloom when young bolls are abundant.