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LOGO: Journal of Cotton Science

 

Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Feeding Injury on Cotton Bolls

Authors: Katherine Kamminga, D. Ames Herbert, Michael D. Toews, Sean Malone, and Thomas Kuhar
Pages: 68-74
Arthropod Management

The invasive brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), is rapidly spreading from the mid-Atlantic region southward into cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) producing areas of the U.S. Stink bugs are one of the most economically damaging insect pests of cotton and feeding by stink bugs on cotton bolls can result in a reduction of lint yield and quality at harvest. Field cage studies were conducted in Virginia to determine if boll size influenced H. halys adult and nymphal feeding behavior. In 2011 and 2012, no-choice feeding experiments were conducted with three boll sizes (1.8, 2.8, and 3.2 cm diameter). The 2011 no-choice experiment also included the adult life stage of the native green stink bug, Chinavia hilaris (Say). In addition to the experiments with adults, two feeding choice experiments were conducted during 2012 with H. halys nymphs. The insects were placed into cages enclosing entire cotton plants with different boll sizes. Results of the no-choice experiment from 2011 indicated that feeding injury caused by C. hilaris was not significantly different among the different boll sizes offered, whereas injury by H. halys increased as boll size increased. Results from the choice experiment also revealed increasing feeding damage by H. halys as boll size increased. These data indicate that the addition of H. halys to the current stink bug complex in cotton might warrant a reevaluation of the current field scouting methods and management recommendations that show that large cotton bolls (> 3.2 cm diameter) are safe from stink bug feeding injury.