Cotton Insect Newsletter Vol. 19, No. 16, August 29, 2001 Call 1-877-629-1474 for Cotton Insect Hotline

Cotton Insect Newsletter:  This will be the last regular scheduled newsletter of the season.  The last Cotton Insect Hotline report was recorded last Friday.  If there are any late-breaking insect problems, I will report these on the Cotton Listserver.  Just email me at mroof@clemson.edu if you need to sign up for the Listserver. Cotton Situation:  Most of the cotton crop has reached the stage where there are few cotton bolls left that need to be protected from insect injury.  Most of the cotton at the PDREC has at least 25% open bolls.  Most of my cotton trials have close to 50% open bolls this week.  Mike Jones has some plots that are being picked this week. Cotton Insect Situation:  Bollworm moths are still being trapped at fairly high levels in the Savannah Valley, and we are also finding moderate numbers of moths in the Pee Dee.  A few whiteflies are showing up in cotton fields, but I haven't seen any economically important situations.  Both aphids and whiteflies have the potential to cause problems when bolls are open.  The honey dew secreted by these insects has a sugar content of about 30%.  This can cause sticky cotton lint, and the sugar may serve as a substrate for the growth of sooty molds that will reduce color grades.  Stink bugs will remain a problem for late-maturing cotton, although numbers appear to be down in cotton since soybeans started putting on pods. Boll Weevil Containment:  Randy Lynch says that there have been a few boll weevil captures in containment areas, but none so far in South Carolina.  Four boll weevils were trapped in Georgia (Turner County north of Tifton) and one in south Alabama (Henry County).  There have been some problems with tall weeds in the SC program.  The weeds interfere with air movement thereby impeding the movement of the pheromone molecules.  About the only way a boll weevil will wind up in a trap surrounded by weeds is if it just happens to light on the trap and then detects the pheromone.  If growers would bush hog or disk down weeds on field borders, it would be a great help for the program.   Mitchell Roof  Extension Entomologist

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