Stink bugs have become a major pest of cotton in most southeastern states in the wake of the boll weevil eradication and the advent of Bt cotton. Both of these pest management strategies have resulted in fewer insecticide applications being applied by cotton farmers. This has provided more "windows of opportunity" for stink bugs to exploit cotton as a host. To further complicate matters, a succession of relatively mild winters throughout most of the 1980's and 90's has provided better overwintering conditions that have allowed more stink bugs to overwinter and produce more economic infestations in cotton as well as other cultivated host plants. By mid July, when cotton had begun to bloom and set bolls, stink bug numbers were already at high enough levels to cause economic problems.