Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Southern Insect Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #307233
Title: Area-wide management approach for tarnished plant bug in the Mississippi Delta

Author
item COOK, DON - Mississippi State University
item Snodgrass, Gordon
item BURRIS, EUGENE - LSU Agcenter
item GORE, JEFF - Mississippi State University
item BURNS, DENNIS - LSU Agcenter
item LEONARD, BILLY RODGERS - LSU Agcenter

Submitted to: Midsouth Entomologist
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2014
Publication Date: 9/1/2014
Citation: Cook, D., Snodgrass, G.L., Burris, E., Gore, J., Burns, D., Leonard, B. 2014. Area-wide management approach for tarnished plant bug in the Mississippi Delta. Midsouth Entomologist. 7(2):60-63.

Interpretive Summary: The tarnished plant bug is currently the number one pest of cotton across the mid-south. Studies were conducted to examine the impact of extending winter-spring weed management to the field margins and adjacent non-crop areas on tarnished plant bug populations. Reducing the number of host plants available to the tarnished plant bug early in the year should translate into lower populations that could move into cotton fields later in the year.

Technical Abstract: The tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), is the major insect pest of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum (L.), within the Mid-South region. From 2001 to 2012, the tarnished plant bug has been the number one insect pest of cotton in Louisiana and Mississippi in eleven and nine of those years, respectively. Studies were conducted in the delta regions of Mississippi and Louisiana to examine the impact of extending winter-spring weed management to the field margins and adjacent non-crop areas on tarnished plant bug populations. Reducing the occurrence and densities of winter-spring host plants, should translate into lower populations of tarnished plant bug that would subsequently infest cotton.