The within plant distribution of the tarnished plant bug, Lycrus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), was determined in cotton during June, July, and August 1992 at Stoneville, Miss. Distributions of adults or nymphs determined in the morning were not significantly different from their distributions determined in the afternoon. The percentage of adults (56.0) found in the upper halves of plants, below mainstem terminals, was almost the same as that found for nymphs (56.6). However, fewer nymphs than adults (15.6 vs 22.9) were in the mainstem terminals, and a higher percentage of nymphs than adults (27.8 vs 21.1) were found in the lower halves of plants. Nymphs were mainly found on fruit structures (squares, blooms, and bolls), and 72.1% of all nymphs were found on these during the study. Adults were mainly on leaves during the first week prior to squaring and during the first three weeks of squaring, and percentages found on leaves ranged from 57.6 to 71.4% during this time period. Adults then became more evenly distributed on leaves, mainstem terminals, and fruiting structures during the remainder of the study. The importance of the distributions found for adults and nymphs to sampling L. lineolaris in cotton is discussed.