Cotton Insect Management 2011

Points for Discussion:
1. Low Input System - Conventional vs. Technology
2. Evolution of Bt Cotton - Various Genes Involved
How do they compare and what is in the future?
3. Phase Out of Temik
What will be the greatest impact?
4. Stink Bug Research Towards a More Rapid Survey Technique
Factors that influence external vs. internal stink bug boll damage.

5. New Damaging Insects
A. Plataspid (Kudzu) Bug

B. Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

C. Redbanded Stink Bug


A. Plataspid (Kudzu) Bug

 Native to Asia

First detected near Athens Georgia in the fall of 2009

Has since spread over much of Georgia, South Carolina and into a few counties in North Carolina and Alabama

Feeds primarily on legumes

Reduced soybean yields by about 20% in 2010 test fields in Georgia

Feeds on stems and leaves

Has high reproductive potential

Can be controlled with pyrethroids and other chemistry

Is a public nuisance problem in fall of the year as they enter homes and buildings to hibernate.

B. Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

First discovered in Pennsylvania in late 1990s

Native of Asia

Big problem in specialty crops in mid-Atlantic states (grapes, apples)

Caused 60-90% loss in peaches and apples in 2010

Called Interstate Bug since it spreads by trucks and campers

Has wide host range - feeds on about everything

Have been found in three Alabama counties in late 2010

Has long proboscis so can go through the husk of corn

Pecans may be huge host in the southeast

Causes more damage per bug on soybeans than green or brown stink bug species

Expect to be economic pest of cotton

Will likely have heavy field edge or border damage
Invades homes for hibernation sites in the Fall

3. Redbanded Stink Bug

Native to South America (Brazil)

First found in Louisiana in 2000

Observed on soybeans in Baldwin County, Alabama in July 2010

Is sensitive to winter temperatures below 20 degrees F

Has high reproductive potential

Is primarily a legume feeder

Can cause heavy damage to soybeans

Feeds earlier and more aggressively than other stink bug species

More difficult to kill than Southern green stink bug

This concludes Week Five of Cotton Insect Management 2011. The slide show can also be viewed at http://www.aces.edu/anr/crops/documents/CottonInsectManagement2011RonSmith.pdf

Plataspid (Kudzu) Bug Found in Alabama

You may now add a second county to our Plataspid bug finds in Alabama. I captured a single specimen while sweeping kudzu in Cherokee County, Alabama, on Monday November 2nd. The location was on US Highway 278 about 4 miles from the Georgia state line. This site by air is just a few miles north of Dr. Charles Ray's finding on October 23rd in north Cleburne County.


In my last blog on 10/27 I stated that no damage to soybeans was observed from 2010 infestations. However, based on information from Dr. Phillip Roberts, University of Georgia, yield losses may have occurred. Additional information will be available in the following months. Stay Tuned.

Plataspid (Kudzu) Bug in Alabama

Surveys of kudzu were conducted in Lee, Chambers, Randolph, Cleburne and Cherokee counties on October 26, 2010, and no kudzu bugs were observed. These particular counties were selected for surveys since they are adjacent to Georgia counties where the bug has been reported.

However, when I arrived back in my office on October 27, 2010, I had an email from Dr. Charles Ray, Auburn University Plant Diagnostic Lab, reporting a single find, an adult plataspid (collected Oct. 23) on kudzu in northern Cleburne county. To our knowledge this is the first find in Alabama.

This insect, a native to Asia, was first reported in October 2009 in nine northeast Georgia counties near Athens, Georgia. Since that time they have spread to more than 60 north and central Georgia counties as well as most South Carolina counties and a couple in North Carolina.

The adults are 4-6 mm long, oblong, olive-green colored, and produce a mildly offensive odor when disturbed. In the fall this bug attempts to overwinter in houses, churches and other structures. Therefore, they become a nuisance pest as they congregate on walls and windows of buildings.

During the spring and summer they feed on kudzu and were observed in heavy numbers on soybeans in 2010. They are known to feed on legumes in general. No damage was observed or measured on soybeans. Dr. Phillip Roberts conducted several control trials and found that a number of our row crop insecticides gave good control.