Alabama Insect Blog

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Tales of Cotton Insects: July 8, 2026

The Alabama cotton insect situation has started to pick up over the past week. Plant bugs are becoming more consistent in some fields and applications are going out. Aphids are beginning to somewhat settle down, and we expect to start picking up fungus soon too.

Most of the calls we have gotten revolve around plant bug management and when or if to use Diamond. In most cases, we still recommend Diamond in fields that have already had one application for adult plant bugs in pre-bloom cotton. Somewhere around 10-14 days after that initial application is an ideal time to get it out, if treatable levels of plant bugs are present. This allows time for eggs that were deposited to hatch so nymphs will be exposed to the Diamond. If not, we have been recommending holding off on the Diamond, particularly in south Alabama. Our reason is to save some budget for if/when jassids show up. We do not know yet how many applications (or if any, but we suspect we will) we will need to manage jassids. Budgets are tight and saving until applications are economically justified (thresholds) will be critical this year.

We have also seen a fair amount of clouded plant bugs in south Alabama this year. Clouded plant bugs are slightly more aggressive feeders, and they prefer to feed on thumb-sized bolls, where tarnished plant bugs prefer to feed on larger squares. A common characteristic of clouded plant bug feeding is cat-facing (dark spotting) on the outside of the boll, similar to stink bug injury. Experience over the last couple years suggests that pyrethroids provide sporadic control of clouded plant bugs and should not be relied on for control.

"Cat-facing" on thumb-sized boll
from clouded plant bug feeding

Adult clouded plant bug

We are also approaching the time of the season when the new material, Vertento, has a good fit. In my experience, Vertento provides very good residual (≈3 week) control of plant bugs, stink bugs and spider mites (and probably cotton jassid too). To maximize the return of investment with this product, it should go out once cotton has slowed its vegetative growth (after bloom). Vertento is not systemic, so new growth is not protected. For this reason, we have found that spraying around the 2^nd or 3^rd week of bloom is a good timing to knockout plant bugs and get close to finish line on stink bugs too. We know, based on limited experience, it provides good control of jassids, but we need to do more work to see how long the residual control lasts.

Adult cotton jassid found in Headland
on July 7, 2026

Cotton Jassid Update: We found a single adult cotton jassid in Headland yesterday (June 7) on our early March planted cotton. This detection was made on the field border (as we would expect). After that, we did 500+ sweep net samples and looked on thousands of leaves and did not find another jassid in that field or any other fields on the station. For now, I would not get overly excited and start spraying. I would focus scouting on field borders and on plants isolated from the field.

We are also seeing a ton of what we are calling “jassid mimics” or “look-alikes” that are other leafhopper species that look similar to but are not cotton jassids. These species do not cause hopperburn. If you are currently finding immature leafhoppers easily, I think there is a very high degree of certainty that it is one of the mimic species. The only way in the field to know you are dealing with cotton jassid is to see adults with the two black spots on the wings (image). We are starting to get heat, sunshine and popup rain showers which will help the crop catch up, but also favors cotton jassid growth and development. A few factors that favor cotton jassid growth and development: hot temperatures (81-95F), high humidity (55-87%), sunshine hours and moderate rainfall (increases humidity and plant growth).

To see an up-to-date map on cotton jassid detections across the Cotton Belt, you can check out the Stop two-Spot Cotton Leafhopper (Stop2SCL) website here (https://stop2scl.org/cotton/)

As always, if we can ever be of any help, or if you would like to provide input on the situation in your area, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your local Extension Agent or myself (Scott Graham: 662-809-3368) and Ron Smith (334-332-9501). For more information on thresholds and insecticide recommendations, visit the Alabama Cotton IPM Guide (IPM-0415). To stay up-to-date on the Alabama cotton insect situation, subscribe to the Alabama Cotton Shorts Newsletter, Alabama Crops Report Newsletter and Podcast, and the Syngenta Pest Patrol Hotline.

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Tales of Cotton Insects: June 24, 2026

Overall, the Alabama cotton insect situation has been relatively quite so far this year. This probably has a lot to do with all the rains we have experienced across the state over the past couple weeks. Hopefully we are about to get into a “normal” summer pattern and get some sunshine and heat and get the crop off and running.

Adult tarnished plant bug

Plant bug calls have started to come in over the last few days. In north Alabama, populations have been sporadic, but are really picking up in the earliest planted, most mature cotton fields. Fewer reports are coming from central and south Alabama, but some fields are approaching treatable levels. As a reminder, threshold is 8 adult plant bugs per 100 sweeps and maintain 80% of the first position pinhead squares in the upper 2-3 nodes of the canopy.

Some fields are approaching two weeks after the first adult plant bug spray and needing another application. In these cases, it is a good time to get Diamond out in addition to a knockdown insecticide to help get some residual suppression of immature plant bugs.

We have also seen some pretty heavy infestations of aphids in fields in central Alabama and gotten similar reports from other areas of the state.
Generally, populations are not enough to warrant application alone, but they are getting close. The biggest issue appears to be due to the fact cotton has been stressed and not growing off like we typically see this time of year. Hopefully it will turn a corner soon and outrun the aphids.

Good news on the cotton jassid front: we have not found any more in the state since our initial detection on June 11. Yesterday (June 23) we turned over ≈5,000 leaves in cotton across 3 planting dates in Headland and did not find a single jassid. According to the literature, cooler temperatures (<84F) slow down their growth and development, and heavy rains can knock down populations by up to 70%. It appears that the good Lord is giving us some early season suppression. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as things change.

Things have also been quite in soybeans this year. We have gotten reports of Mexican bean beetle in fields in Northeast Alabama this week. Adult MBB may be confused with lady beetles, as the look similar, but they can cause a lot of defoliation in a hurry. The immatures are yellow, spiney and pill shaped. MBB tend to feed between the leaf veins leaving a lacy appearance. Threshold is to avoid 35% defoliation in vegetative soybeans and 20% in reproductive soybeans.

Adult (L) and immature (R) Mexican bean beetle.
Phot: Eddie McGriff

Friday, June 12, 2026

Tales of Cotton Insects: Friday June 12, 2026

This week has been an eventful one for cotton in the southeast. Cotton jassid was documented in Tifton, GA (June 10, okra), Tallassee, AL (June 11, cotton) and Quincy, FL (June 12, cotton). These are the first documented cases of cotton jassid in “the real world” in the Cotton Belt since a single jassid was found on a sticky trap in January in Georgia.

What does this mean for Alabama cotton farmers? For one, it means your scout is about to get busy. I suspect we are setting up similarly to 2025, but only time will tell. Last year, we also found the first cotton jassid in Alabama in Tallassee on June 17. As everyone remembers, we did not see widespread infestations in the real world until mid-August. However, we also did not start intensely scouting for cotton jassid until around that time. We will likely find them earlier in commercial fields this year because we are more actively scouting.

We have already started getting questions about changing plant bug management plans based on this new information. For now, I would stay the course. Until we start seeing real numbers of jassids in commercial fields, I would address plant bugs in the most efficient and economical way possible. Keep in mind that materials like imidacloprid did provide some suppression (≈56%) of cotton jassids in our research trials last year. If populations are essentially undetectable, then this amount of control should be good enough for now.

Thursday, June 11, 2026

Tales of Insects: Thursday, June 11, 2026

Update: Cotton Jassid was found at the plant breeding unit in Tallasse, AL this morning (June 11)

The big update for the week comes out of Georgia. Dr. Phillip Roberts and his team found adult cotton jassids on okra in Tifton yesterday (June 10). No cotton jassids have been observed in cotton in the area. https://www.syngenta-us.com/pest-patrol/georgia

What does this mean for us in Alabama? It means just that. Cotton jassids were found on okra in Tifton, GA. Last year, in Alabama, we found cotton jassids on June 17 in Shorter and June 19 in Headland, both in cotton. However, we did not experience widespread issues in commercial fields until mid-August. We don’t yet know what this year will look like, but it may be shaping up to be like last year. As we said over and over in 2025, we will know a lot more in a month than we do today.

For now, we need to continue observing and looking for cotton jassids in Alabama. Just like last year, we will monitor the distribution and movement across the state with the help of our Extension Agents. If you find any, please contact your local Agent and let them know. As a refresher, last year we saw reproduction in cotton, okra, sunflowers, egg plant and hibiscus. We have see adults (two black spots on wings) to confirm we have cotton jassids.

Adult Cotton Jassid (Dr. Isaac Esquivel, UF)

Peanut Update

Yesterday, we commonly found silk tubes and lesser cornstalk borer (LCB) larvae in peanuts on the research farm in Headland. LCB are worse in hot, dry weather like we are experiencing in southeast Alabama. To scout, look in areas of the field that are skippy first. If LCB are in the field, they will most likely be on plants that have 5 or 6 inches between plants. If you don’t find any, you likely do not have an infestation. If you do, scout the field as you normally would, don’t key in on skippy plants. This can cause you to over estimate the infestation level and bias your count. Look for LCB larvae or silken tubes at the base of the plant. Or pull up plants and shake them on the ground to dislodge the larvae then look for silken tubes. Threshold is when fresh damage or LCB are found at 30% of the sites scouted in the field.

Current management recommendations include products with chlorantraniliprole (Vantacor, Besiege, etc.) or novaluron (Diamond). In theses current conditions, I would be careful with products that contain pyrethroids as they may flare spider mites.

Lesser Cornstalk Borer larvae and silken tube

Monday, June 1, 2026

Tales of Cotton Insects: Monday June 1, 2026

Overall, things have been quiet, but that likely is largely due to the rains. A lot folks are finishing up planting and getting started on replants. Thankfully, the thrips model is still suggesting very low pressure. I would expect our seed treatments to carry us through the thrips window.

We do still have the possibility of some oddballs, like slugs, cutworms or threecornered alfalfa hoppers. Keep scouting and monitoring fields evaluating emergence and stands in this late planted cotton and don’t let anything threaten to reduce them.

June typically means plant bugs in Alabama. We will likely start picking them up in our oldest cotton that is squaring soon. All the rains we have had the last 7 to 10 days may complicate early season plant bug decisions. Daisy fleabane (plant bugs primary spring host) will likely persist for a while longer this month. This sometimes causes a “trickle” effect where adult plant bugs infest cotton over an extended period of time. This may mean that we see lower “subthreshold” numbers for a couple of weeks. At a certain point, we will probably want to pull the trigger if that is the case. While the primary goal of plant bug management is to preserve 80% of the first position pinhead squares, we also want to stop egg deposition and the number of nymphs that will hatch out in the next two weeks.

Adult tarnished plant bugs on a sweep-net.

The best way to detect adult plant bugs is to use the sweep-net. Threshold is an average of 8 adult plant bugs per 100 sweeps. Monitoring pinhead square retention is an excellent way to see what injury is being done in the field. Since a cotton plant puts on a new node every ≈3 days, monitoring the upper 2-3 nodes tells us what has happened since the last time the field was scouted. As mentioned above, threshold is to not allow retention to fall below 80%.

With that in mind, we have a few options for control of adults in pre-bloom cotton:

1.Imidacloprid: Many trade names. Imidacloprid is the most economical option we have for plant bug control. While imidacloprid does not provide 100% control (closer to 60-65%) at the highest labeled rates, it generally provides enough to get populations under threshold and preserves square retention

2.Thiamethoxam: Centric, Hub WDG. Thiamethoxam is another neonicotinoid that provides good control of adult plant bugs. Our general recommendation is 2 oz/A. While a little more costly than imidacloprid, this material provides better control. Another option is Endigo ZCX, which is a premix of Centric (thiamethoxam) and lambda-cy. Endigo ZCX at 3.5 oz/A provides the equivalent rate of Centric (2 oz/A) and lambda-cy (1.5 oz/A). While the added lambda-cy may be more likely to flare mites, this pre-mix may be a little more economical than Centric alone.

3.Sulfoxaflor: Transform (1.5 oz/A) provides the best control of plant bugs of all currently registered materials. For that reason, we like to wait to use it when immature plant bugs are present. Waiting for Transform can help to delay resistance and manage adults more economically.

4.Other options: Acephate (0.5 lb) or pyrethroids (highest labeled rate) are options for adults but are not generally recommended. The reason for this is multi-fold. 1. Resistance management. We prefer to use neonics (imidacloprid or thiamethoxam) on adults and then switch to the “harder” chemicals (Ops/pyrethroids) after bloom when targeting immature plant bugs and/or stink bugs. 2. These classes of chemicals tend to be harsher on beneficials, which could lead to outbreaks of spider mite (however, we can and have flared spider mites with neonics sprayed on 7-day intervals). 3. Aphids, while neonics are generally good on aphids, OPs and pyrethroids are not as reliable.

**Note: Pyrethroid resistance has been documented in NW and SW Alabama in recent years. Pyrethroids should be monitored closely for efficacy if used in all cotton growing regions of Alabama.

The good news is that things are still quiet on the cotton jassid front. To date, no active populations have been observed in “the real world” in 2026. We, along with our colleagues in FL, GA and SC are monitoring the situation closely.

Cotton Scout Schools kick off this week:

June 2 - 8 a.m. at the Wiregrass REC in Headland
June 4 - 8 a.m. at Milstead Gin in Shorter
June 9 - 8 a.m. the Tennessee Valley REC in Belle Mina
June 18 - 10 a.m. at Grant Farms in Uriah
June 25 - 10 a.m. at McCord’s Fire Department Station #1 in Centre

Monday, May 11, 2026

Tales of Cotton Insects: May 11, 2026

Stand robbers have been the theme of reports from the last few days. The primary culprit has been grasshoppers, but a few cutworms are in the mix as well. I hesitated to put out much information last week due to all the rains and people not being able to get in the field anyway. But after today’s feedback, grasshoppers are still a concern. Many folks in west central Alabama made applications just prior to the storms that blew through Wednesday. Unfortunately, most reports are that those applications didn’t seem to knock populations back much. This was not totally unexpected, especially in the areas that received 3+ inches of rain in that time period. When spraying bare ground, wash off is likely an even bigger problem than in crop and on cotton leaves.

Our recommendation is still to run 0.67 lbs of acephate for knockdown of adult and immature grasshoppers. For any cotton that does not currently have an established stand, I would also consider 2 oz of Dimilin for the residual suppression of still emerging immatures. Grasshoppers will likely continue emerging for a few more weeks.

Dimilin can also help with cutworms which have been identified in a few fields over the last couple weeks. To scout for cutworms, count the number of cut and undamaged plants in 50 feet of row at multiple locations in a field. A pocketknife or something similar can be used to dig up larvae from the soil around damaged or adjacent plants to confirm their presence. Treatment decisions are made based on achieving an acceptable stand. Some say to consider treatment if 5% or more of plants have been freshly cut. Infestations may be spotty within a field and only require treatment where damage and live cutworms are found.

Both grasshoppers and cutworms are easy to control. The problem is that pyrethroids are great on cutworms but poor on grasshoppers. In most instances, I would choose acephate and live with the level of control I get on cutworms vs a tank-mixture of the two. Dimilin should provide good control of smaller cutworms but may not control larger ones as well.

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Tales of Cotton Insects: April 29, 2026

The northern 2/3rds of Alabama has gotten much needed rain over the past couple of days. Thankfully, in most places rains have been somewhat slow and steady. We needed it to soak in as much as possible. According to James Spann (link), relief for south Alabama is expected tonight and through Friday. In addition to the rain, we have also seen a good couple of weeks run in the markets. December 26 cotton has been trading in the $0.80 range for the last few days. Hopefully this trend continues to go up.

More good news: After the recent rains, the Thrips Model has totally shifted. For the majority of the state, VERY LOW thrips pressure is expected for anything planted from now through basically all of May. This is a complete 180 from our last report (link).

The highlighted area is predicted to have
high pressure through the first few days
of May. Model Run: 4.29.26

North Alabama (highlighted part of map in image) is the only part of the state is still predicted to have high pressure through the first couple days of May, then falling off after about the 7^th. Why the change just for this one area? Great question. We don’t exactly know. Either way, this highlights the importance of running the model consistently to see what the pressure looks like as you begin planting and a few days after planting too.

With the now predicted lower pressure, I would expect seed treatments to give us a good chance at outrunning thrips, assuming nighttime temperatures are high enough to keep the cotton growing. Time will tell how things will change.