In the low spray environment created by the use of Bt transgenic cotton plants and the eradication of the boll weevil, tarnished plant bug may become a more prominent pest in the cotton production system. Nectariless cotton was evaluated in a small plot study in order to determine its potential as a host plant resistance factor against tarnished plant bug. The near-isogenic varieties DPL5415 (conventional, nectaried), NuCotn33 (Bt, nectaried), and DPL5415NE (conventional, nectariless) were compared when treated with insecticide as needed and untreated. Drop cloth, sweep net, and terminal samples were employed to measure insect populations. Retention and yield were also taken. 1997 provided little useful data concerning tarnished plant bugs due to low populations. 1998 populations of tarnished plant bug were very high. Tarnished plant bugs were significantly lower in the nectariless variety than in the Bt variety. Treated plots of nectariless cotton received one fewer applications of insecticide targeting tarnished plant bug than did conventional or Bt plots. Yield in treated plots was not statistically distinguishable. Yield in plots of nectariless cotton was significantly higher than in conventional but not Bt (P<0.05). Beneficial arthropods were less affected by variety than by application of insecticides.