Environmental and economic management of tarnished plant bug (TPB) (Lygus lineolaris) on cotton has been an area of continuous study by USDA scientists in Stoneville, Mississippi since the 1960s. Maintaining economically viable cotton production has required dynamic research information and increasingly sophisticated management approaches for this native insect that feeds on many cultivated and wild host plants. In close collaboration with university partners, USDA scientists in Stoneville accumulated a wealth of scientific information on TPB that routinely addressed changing management challenges and continues to provide benchmark information needed to sustain economic cotton production in the Mississippi Delta. More than 60 scientific journal articles have been published on TPB by Stoneville scientists, and hundreds of conference proceedings and scientific presentations have been made by USDA scientists at various scientific and production conferences. Research by Stoneville USDA scientists influenced a shift in traditional integrated pest management (IPM) approaches on cotton by illustrating the impact of the insect on crop maturity and profitability. This collective information is a major fraction of the total known information about this insect pest, especially as it relates to cotton. In this paper, the major research accomplishments of USDA scientists at Stoneville, Mississippi studying the biology, ecology and control of TPB on cotton are summarized. Future scientists will build increasingly sophisticated and effective pest management systems using the fundamental information accumulated in these USDA studies.
Luttrell et al. (Mon,) studied this question.