A few more fields have popped up with high numbers of adult tarnished plant bugs this week. These are fields that had low numbers in previous weeks. Even though the percent square retention is still above 80% now, controls are being applied to some of these fields to prevent the likely drop in retention next week. Another benefit of early controls would be to reduce the size of the infield population of immatures during the first half of July. Not only are these adults feeding on pinhead squares, they are also depositing eggs that will be hatching into TPB nymphs in a few weeks.
Brown stink bugs continue to be observed and reported from most cotton fields statewide. These adults will begin feeding on small thumb sized bolls as soon as the dried bloom drops off. In situations like this, we can have damaging economic levels of stink bugs prior to the third week of bloom. Two to three adult brown stink bugs per 20 sweeps (about 60 row feet) were captured in fields at the Wiregrass Research Center, Headland, AL this week. Remember that the life cycle of an adult stink bug may be as long as 30-35 days.
