IN THIS ISSUE

· TPMA Website
· Upper Coast IPM Program Sponsors
· Cotton Insect Situation
· Aphid Control In Cotton
· Boll Weevil Trap Counts
· Mexican Corn Rootworm Scouting Program
· Did You Know

Upper Coast IPM Program Sponsors

TPMA Website

This newsletter as well as other Extension IPM Program newsletters from across the state can be viewed at the Texas Pest Management Association website at www.tpma.org.

Cotton Insect Situation

Growth stages of cotton in the Tri-County area of Wharton, Matagorda and Jackson Counties range from 1-2 true leaves to match-head square.

Thrips have increased in cotton but generally remain below economically damaging numbers. Aphid numbers were low in ninety seven percent of fields that were monitored during the past week. Spider mites were observed in low numbers in six percent of the fields that were monitored. In cotton that has reached first-square stage, fleahopper numbers were below the economic threshold level in ninety-five percent of the fields. Live boll weevil were found in three percent of cotton fields during the past week. Bollworm and boll worm eggs have been found in low numbers in a few fields during the past two weeks. Other pest that were found occasionally in low numbers included yellow striped armyworm and loopers.

Beneficial insects that were found during the past week included damsel bugs, minute pirate bugs, fireants, and various species of lady beetles. Other beneficial arthropods found included predator mites and spiders.

Cotton Fleahopper

Adult fleahoppers are about 1/8-inch long and pale green. Nymphs resemble adults but lack wings and are light green. They move very rapidly when disturbed. Adults move into cotton from host weeds when cotton begins to square. Both adults and nymphs suck sap from the tender portions of the plant, including small squares. Pinhead size and smaller squares are most susceptible to damage.

Management and decision making. The decision to apply an insecticide should be based upon the number of fleahoppers present at square set. As the first small squares appear (approximately 5 to 6 true leaf stage), examine the main stem terminal buds (about 3 to 4 inches of plant top) of 25 plants at three to four different locations across the field. More sites should be sampled in fields larger than 100 acres. During the first three to four weeks of squaring, and when 10 to 15 fleahoppers per 100 terminals are found is when an insecticide applications should be made for control.

Furadan Section 18 For Cotton

Texas Department of Agriculture has received documents from EPA allowing use of carbofuran (Furadan 4F) to control cotton aphids in Texas for the 2002 growing season. The label is effective from April 17, 2002 until October 31, 2002. All cotton growing regions in Texas are included. There are no changes from last year's requirements but a request has been made by TDA to document use and results with Furadan 4F (carbofuran), Intruder (acetamiprid), and Centric (thiamethoxam). TDA and EPA support efforts for growers to transition to "alternative aphid control means" under this Section 18 label. Monthly reports will be forwarded by TDA relative to aphid incidence and used of control measures. Any such information would be helpful and should be forwarded to Mr. Terry Mitchell, Texas Department of Agriculture (512-463-7545). For a copy of the 2002 authorization document (and its important amendments), visit TDA's website at: http://www.agr.state.tx.us.

Boll Weevil Trap Counts

Boll weevil trap counts for March and April are well below numbers that were caught during the same time period in 2000 and 2001. Traps are located on farm to market highway 1162, county roads 442, 422, 409, 426 and farm to market highway 441 between El Campo and Hillje.

Table 1. Number of boll weevils captured per pheromone trap per month, thirty-two mile trap line, Wharton County, Texas. Texas Cooperative Extension operated traps.

Did You Know

Until the boll weevil entered the U.S. in 1892, a number of insects were damaging cotton in the U.S., but none nearly so devastating as the boll weevil soon after it crossed the Rio Grande River into Texas. Thereafter, cotton protection programs had to be fashioned around measures to combat the boll weevil. By 1894, when the USDA dispatched C.H. T. Townsend to study the pest in southern Texas, the boll weevil was already causing huge losses in cotton fields in several counties. Growers were totally defenseless and the havoc continued to engulf one county after another. This emergency resulted in a Boll Weevil Convention at Victoria on Ocotober 12, 1898, and in 1899 an appropriation by the Texas Legislature to Texas A&M University to hire its first entomologist, Frederick W. Malley. By 1922 the boll weevil had spread across most of the Cotton Belt, leaving in its wake depreciated land values, closed cotton gins and oil mills, failed banks, railroads and businesses, and victims of suicides.

In 1901, the U.S. Congress emulated the Texas Legislature by appropriating funds for boll weevil research. Entomologist led by W.D. Hunter elucidated the overwintering biology of the pest. Hunter and Malley in cooperation with plant scientists discovered that losses could be avoided substantially by the early planting of rapidly maturing varieties, early harvesting and crop residue destruction. In 1903 near Terrell, Texas, Seaman Knapp organized eight on-farm demonstrations of such approaches. This focus on learning through experience led directly to the appointment of the first county agent in 1906, and to the creation of the Cooperative Extension Service by the passage of the Smith-Lever Act in 1914. (Source: Boll Weevil Eradication In The United States Through 1999, Number Six of the Cotton Foundation reference book series).