Tales of Cotton Insects: Friday July 24, 2026

Where’s the bugs? That has been the primary question we have gotten over the past week or so. Most calls are folks reporting light insect pressure and just checking to make sure they aren’t missing anything or aren’t the only ones not seeing much. Thankfully, that is the case for the majority of the cotton across the state. There are pockets of plant bugs and stink bugs here and there, but its been relatively quiet overall.

Another big topic is whether or not to “throw something in the tank” when making a trip in cotton at the 4^th or 5^th week of bloom. In most years, that is good timing to take care of plant bugs, especially for the cost of a pyrethroid. However given what we know about pyrethroids appearing to flare cotton jassids, I would be hesitant to stir anything up right now. This leaves organophosphates (acephate or Bidrin) as options to clean up stink bugs. This year, as light as pressure has been, I think we can pass on that 3^rd week of bloom “automatic” shot and try to buy another week or two. As I once heard my colleague at Missouri, Chase Floyd, say, “any day we don’t have to spray is a good day.” Keep kicking the can down the road and try to make sure we are getting the biggest bang for the buck we can on inputs this year. If there is enough pressure to treat, another good option is Vertento. We talked about it some in our last blog (link). On the label, the use of an oil-based surfactant or a NIS with at least 75% surface active agent is recommended.

Cotton Jassid Update: Populations continue to be VERY low across Alabama. Populations are becoming more easy to find in some areas of Georgia, but no fields have reached treatable levels yet. The current counties where cotton jassid have been confirmed in Alabama include: Elmore (June 11), Lee (June 29), Henry (July 7) and Autauga (July 20). A single jassid was found in a sweep-net sample at the Prattville research unit. Last year, the first jassid found there was on September 3. What does that mean? Other than the fact we found jassids there six weeks later last year, we do not know. It could mean they build up numbers quicker, or they could end up building late, similar to last year. Only time will tell. One thing we do know is that the only way to know if jassids are present is to scout fields weekly.

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/)

Soybean Update

We have gotten a few reports of redbanded stink bugs (RBSB) requiring treatment in soybeans in south Alabama and seen a few in central Alabama as well. RBSB are more aggressive feeders and more difficult to control than our traditional stink bugs complex. Threshold is 4 RBSB per 25 sweeps. The best option for control is Bifenthrin + acephate, but in some cases either alone or either plus imidacloprid can knock them back. Additionally, Endigo ZCX is a good option. It just depends on the pressure and how long the beans have to do. Treatment for RBSB can be terminated at R7 except under adverse environmental conditions.

Overall defoliator (soybean looper and velvetbean caterpillar) pressure has been light so far. We will see how the storm in the gulf will impact those numbers in the next 7 to 10 days.

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.

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.