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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Southern Insect Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #396452
Research Project: Insect Control and Resistance Management in Corn, Cotton, Sorghum, Soybean, and Sweet Potato, and Alternative Approaches to Tarnished Plant Bug Control in the Southern United States

Location: Southern Insect Management Research

Title: Tarnished plant bug (Heteroptera: miridae) behavioral responses to chemical insecticides

Author
item GRAHAM, SCOTT - Auburn University
item CATCHOT, ANGUS - Mississippi State University
item GORE, JEFFREY - Mississippi State University
item COOK, DON - Mississippi State University
item DODDS, DARRIN - Mississippi State University

Submitted to: Insects
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/28/2021
Publication Date: 11/30/2021
Citation: Graham, S.H., Catchot, A.L., Gore, J., Cook, D.R., Dodds, D. 2021. Tarnished plant bug (Heteroptera: miridae) behavioral responses to chemical insecticides. Insects. 12(12):1072. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12121072.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12121072

Interpretive Summary: The tarnished plant bug, is a pernicious pest of cotton across the Mid-South and Southeastern US Cotton Belt. In order to manage this pest, numerous insecticide applications are required annually. This has led to widespread resistance and increased cost of control. We tested the behavioral response of tarnished plant bug against various classes of chemistry used for control. The insects avoided certain chemicals and were slightly attracted to others. These findings help us understand the role of tarnished plant bug behavior on field control failures, insecticide resistance, and insecticide resistance management.

Technical Abstract: The tarnished plant bug (Lygus lineolaris Palisot de Beauvois) is the dominant insect pest of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in the Mid-South Cotton Belt. This is partly due to the fact that this pest has developed resistance to most insecticides used for control. Laboratory experiments were conducted during 2014 and 2015 to study the behavioral response of tarnished plant bug nymphs to several classes of insecticides. Twenty third-instar nymphs were placed in individual dishes divided into four quadrants with five green bean pieces in each quadrant (10 treated and 10 untreated green beans in each dish). Dishes were checked at 1, 4, 8, and 24 h. Tarnished plant bug nymphs appeared to avoid green beans treated with IGR, pyrethroid, organophosphate, or carbamate insecticides, while there appeared to be an attraction to green bean pieces treated with sulfoxamine and pyridine carboxamide insecticides. No relationship was observed with neonicotinoid insecticides within 24 h.