Effects of Adjacent Habitat on Populations of Stink Bugs (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) in Cotton as Part of a Variable Agricultural Landscape in South Carolina

The distribution of phytophagous stink bugs and associated boll injury in margins of cotton fields bordering various agronomic crops and woodlands were studied in 2007 and 2008. Two commercial cotton fields, ranging in size from 7.8 to 12.1 ha in Barnwell and Lee Counties, SC, were sampled weekly each year along predetermined transects at 0, 5, 10, and 25 m from the outside margin into the cotton field. Stink bugs were sampled using a ground cloth (0.91 by 0.91 m), and quarter-sized bolls (approximate to 2.5 cm in diameter) were collected and examined for internal damage. Density (bugs/row-m) of total stink bugs (adults plus nymphs) was greatest in cotton adjacent to peanut. Boll injury was significantly greater in cotton adjacent to soybean and peanut than in cotton next to other habitats, including corn, cotton, and woodlands, during midseason. Density of nymphs was greatest in cotton adjacent to peanut during mid and late season. Densities of total stink bugs and adults were greatest in cotton immediately adjacent (0 m) to all bordering crops and decreased as distance from the margin increased. Boll injury was greatest in cotton immediately adjacent (0 m) to the bordering crop in mid and late season. Because densities of stink bugs and boll injury vary spatially and temporally along field margins of cotton and can vary significantly based on the adjacent crop, such factors should be considered when developing integrated pest management strategies in cotton.