Evaluation of Two Procedures for Monitoring Populations of Early Season Insect Pests (Thysanoptera: Thripidae and Homoptera: Aphididae) in Cotton Under Selected Management Strategies
Plant washing and visual whole-plant search were evaluated for their effectiveness in monitoring populations of thrips (primarily tobacco thrips, Frankliniella fusca (Hinds)) and aphids, Aphis gossypii Glover, in seedling cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L. Comparisons were made within four early season pest management strategies consisting of 1) TSX, a mixture of terraclor and terrazole (control); 2) acephate-treated cotton seed without TSX; 3) acephate-treated cotton seed + TSX; and 4) aldicarb in furrow + TSX. These four pest management strategies established different levels of pest populations. In the control plots, immature thrips were detected approximately 1 wk earlier with plant washing than with visual whole-plant search. Significantly more immature thrips, aphids, and total pests were found with plant washing than with visual search. At peak infestation, 63% more immature thrips were observed using plant washing than were recorded using visual search. As recorded by plant washing, suppression of immatures by treatment was 78.9, 80.5, and 94.5% in the treated plots, respectively. Population estimates of adult thrips determined with the two procedures were not significantly different. As a pest complex on seedling cotton, a peak aphid infestation occurred 12 d after planting (DAP), adult thrips peaked 20 DAP and the highest number of immature thrips was recorded 28 DAP.