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Submitted to: Journal of Insect Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 6/23/2015 Publication Date: 7/15/2015 Citation: Tillman, P.G., Cottrell, T.E. 2015. Spatial distribution of Chinavia hilaris (Hemiptera:Pentatomidae) in peanut-cotton farmscapes. Journal of Insect Science. 15(1):iev081. Interpretive Summary: In cotton, stink bugs are primary pests responsible for millions of dollars in losses and cost of control. Generally, in this region, cotton is grown closely associated with peanut. The objective of this 5-yr on-farm study was to examine the impact of field edges on green stink bugs in peanut and cotton in peanut-cotton farmscapes. Maps of green stink bug populations were constructed to show changes in distribution of stink bugs in farmscapes during periods of stink bug movement. Black cherry, elderberry, mimosa, uncultivated pecan, and beggarweed grew in woodland habitats surrounding both crops. The position of these non-crop host plants together with the spatial distribution of green stink bugs in crops and weekly captures of green stink bugs in pheromone traps strongly suggest that these plants were sources of this stink bug moving into peanut and cotton. Based on capture of green stink bugs in pheromone traps in late September through November, this stink bug likely overwintered in woodland habitats. Even though peanut was not a major source of green stink bugs into cotton, adults still congregated in this crop at the crop-to-crop interface. Overall, our results suggest that these stink bugs dispersed from non-crop host plants across peanut into cotton at the interface. Thus, green stink stinks also congregated at other field edges as they colonized cotton. In conclusion, dispersal behavior of green stink bugs in these farmscapes has important implications for management strategies against it and other stink bug pests in conventional and organic cropping systems. Technical Abstract: The peanut-cotton farmscapes in this study were composed of peanut and cotton fields whose edges interface with each other and woodland habitats. The green stink bug, Chinavia hilaris (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is an economic pest of cotton, but little is known concerning its spatial distribution in coastal plain farmscapes of the southeastern United States. Thus, the objective of this on-farm study was to examine the spatial dynamics of C. hilaris in these farmscapes. Each crop in a farmscape was examined weekly for C. hilaris during the growing season. Black cherry, elderberry, mimosa, uncultivated pecan, and beggarweed grew in woodland habitats surrounding both crops. The position of these non-crop host plants together with the spatial distribution of C. hilaris in crops and weekly captures of C. hilaris adults and nymphs in pheromone traps strongly suggest that these plants were sources of this stink bug moving into peanut and cotton. Based on capture of C. hilaris in pheromone traps in late September through November, this stink bug likely overwintered in woodland habitats. Even though peanut was not a significant source of C. hilaris into cotton, adults still congregated in this crop at the crop-to-crop interface. Overall, our results suggest that C. hilaris dispersed from non-crop host plants across peanut into cotton at the interface. In peanut, C. hilaris were mainly found at the interface and interior of the field, rarely in other field edges. At one farmscape, capture of C. hilaris on wall barriers at the interface strongly indicated that C. hilaris moved across peanut to this interface. In some farmscapes C. hilaris adults occurred in peanut and subsequently appeared or increased in cotton at the interface. Thus, C. hilaris exhibited edge-mediated dispersal, especially at crop-to-crop interfaces, but also at other field edges, as they colonized cotton. In conclusion, dispersal behavior of C. hilaris in these farmscapes has important implications for management strategies against it and other pentatomid pests in conventional and organic cropping systems. |
