ABSTRACT

During the 2002 growing season weekly surveys were conducted in ten cotton fields located in South Mississippi and ten fields located in Central Mississippi to monitor the seasonal occurrence of stink bugs and tarnished plant bugs (TPB), Lygus lineolaris. Five of the fields in the Central Mississippi survey were located in the Hill region and five fields were in the Delta region. TPB numbers were extremely low in South Mississippi and in the Hill region of Central Mississippi, but TPB were more numerous in the Delta region, where an average of 3.4 insecticide treatments were applied to control TPB. Conversely, stink bug populations were higher in South Mississippi, where fields received an average of 0.6 stink bug sprays per field, while no stink bug treatments were applied in Central Mississippi. The southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula, was the most common stink bug species in South Mississippi, constituting 70.4% of all stink bugs captured. However, the green stink bug, Acrosternum hilare, was the most abundant stink bug species in Central Mississippi, followed by brown stink bugs, Euschistus servus, and southern green stink bug accounted for only 27.5% of all stink bugs captured in Central Mississippi.