Journal of Economic Entomology (2013) 106, 1310-1316

Michael J. Brewer, J. Scott Armstrong and Roy D. Parker (2013)
Single and multiple in-season measurements as indicators of at-harvest cotton boll damage caused by verde plant bug (Hemiptera: Miridae)
Journal of Economic Entomology 106 (3), 1310-1316
Abstract: The ability to monitor verde plant bug, Creontiades signatus Distant (Hemiptera: Miridae), and the progression of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., boll responses to feeding and associated cotton boll rot provided opportunity to assess if single in-season measurements had value in evaluating at-harvest damage to bolls and if multiple in-season measurements enhanced their combined use. One in-season verde plant bug density measurement, three in-season plant injury measurements, and two at-harvest damage measurements were taken in 15 cotton fields in South Texas, 2010. Linear regression selected two measurements as potentially useful indicators of at-harvest damage: verde plant bug density (adjusted r ² = 0.68; P = 0.0004) and internal boll injury of the carpel wall (adjusted r ² = 0.72; P = 0.004). Considering use of multiple measurements, a stepwise multiple regression of the four in-season measurements selected a univariate model (verde plant bug density) using a 0.15 selection criterion (adjusted r ² = 0.74; P = 0.0002) and a bivariate model (verde plant bug density-internal boll injury) using a 0.25 selection criterion (adjusted r ² = 0.76; P = 0.0007) as indicators of at-harvest damage. In a validation using cultivar and water regime treatments experiencing low verde plant bug pressure in 2011 and 2012, the bivariate model performed better than models using verde plant bug density or internal boll injury separately. Overall, verde plant bug damaging cotton bolls exemplified the benefits of using multiple in-season measurements in pest monitoring programs, under the challenging situation when at-harvest damage results from a sequence of plant responses initiated by in-season insect feeding.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Michael J. Brewer, J. Scott Armstrong

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
damage/losses/economics

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Creontiades signatus	Cotton (Gossypium)	U.S.A. (mid S)