Within the past decade, the tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris, has become perhaps the most controversial insect pest of cotton in the mid-South and Southeast. Two major divergent methods of managing this pest have evolved - (1) an automatic protective spraying approach and (2) a monitoring-based threshold approach. Even among entomologists espousing the latter tactic, published state thresholds reveal a general uncertainty in management philosophies. An extensive survey of plant bug population levels and damage was conducted in 1984, 1985, 1988, and 1989 in four major North Carolina cotton production regions. Tarnished plant bugs were found in all fields but at extremely low levels, and average square retention counts were high, ranging from 92-100%. Although tarnished plant bugs are a potential pest in North Carolina, our results suggest that automatic insecticide applications are unwarranted and may lead to increased mid- and late-season pest problems through natural enemy disruption and development of insecticide resistant pest strains.