Abstract
Abstract A field study examined the influence of southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula L., on late-season yield losses in cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L. These indirect harvest losses included rotted (complete tissue decay associated with pathogens) and hard-locked bolls (individual locules within a boll that remain compact and fail to open normally, associated with abiotic or biotic agents). Stink bugs were caged in plots of cotton under conditions of high rainfall and humidity, which favor pathogen development and physiological disorders in bolls. Boll-rotting pathogens (Diplodia spp. and Fusarium spp.) were isolated from rotted bolls. The percentage of rotted (2.0-fold) and hard-locked (1.4-fold) bolls within the stink bug–infested treatment was significantly greater compared with that in the noninfested treatment. Stink bug injury within hard-locked (1.9-fold) and harvestable (1.7-fold) bolls was more common in the infested treatment compared with those bolls in the noninfested treatment. Stink bugs...
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
