For the past few weeks many fields have been inundated with cotton fleahoppers.  We began an insecticide control trial on May 10. The field averaged 5.3 cotton fleahoppers in 20 plants, well above the economic threshold of 2 fleas per 20 plants. The graph below is data from the trial I have been conducting. The blue arrows indicate treatment timings. The red line is insect counts from untreated plots.  During this trial, no differences were found between treatments due to variability within treatments. Throughout the trial, 86% of… Read More →

Most of the cotton in the Mid-Coast of Texas is squaring. During the squaring period, the primary insect pest of cotton in South Texas is the cotton fleahopper. This insect can cause small square abscission. The fruit loss can reduce yield and delay crop maturity. The cotton fleahopper adult is about 1/8 inch long, with piercing-sucking mouthparts and a flattened body (Fig. 16). Adults are active flyers; they readily flit within the cotton canopy when disturbed, which makes insect sampling a challenge. Their eggs are not visible because… Read More →