ABSTRACT

Cotton planting date and cultivar were tested in 2002 and 2003 for their effect on populations of arthropod predators in cotton in the Texas High Plains. Timely and late cotton plantings were made, and four of the most common adapted stripper cultivars were used. Predators were sampled using five methods which were also evaluated for effectiveness. Seasonally, timely planted cotton had more total predators per acre in 2003, while cultivar ST 2454R had more total predators (also in 2003). In both years, the beat bucket was the most effective of the sampling methods tested, while the sweep net and vacuum sampler were the poorest.