Physical methods such as the Sticky Cotton Thermodetector (SCT)(Shirley-CIRAD) predict stickiness in cotton lint contaminated by insect honeydew better than do available chemical test methods. However, U.S. textile mills still use reducing sugar tests to screen bales for stickiness more frequently than they use other methods. This practice results from long-term use of reducing sugar tests to detect stickiness in immature cotton, the recent certification (1993) of the SCT as the international standard test for insect-related stickiness, and the relatively high cost of the SCT.