Date of Award
8-2009
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Legacy Department
Entomology
Committee Chair/Advisor
Greene, Jeremy K
Committee Member
Adler , Peter H
Committee Member
Gerard , Patrick D
Committee Member
Toews , Michael D
Committee Member
Reay-Jones , Francis P
Committee Member
Khalilian , Ahmad
Abstract
Studies were conducted during 2007 and 2008 to investigate the distribution and density of phytophagous stink bugs and boll injury in cotton as part of a variable farmscape. The goals of this research were to: (1) compare and contrast sampling techniques and correlate the density of stink bugs and associated internal boll injury with measurements of crop phenology, (2) establish the spatial and temporal distributions of stink bugs and boll injury on a whole-field scale, and (3) determine the density of stink bugs and boll injury along field margins as influenced by adjacent habitats and crops. The ground cloth was the most efficient method to directly sample stink bugs. Monitoring bolls for internal injury was the more sensitive method to detect the presence of stink bugs than the ground cloth or sweep net. The density of adult stink bugs was positively correlated to plant height and normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI). The density of bugs and boll injury were significantly greater in grids located along the periphery of fields than in grids located near the center of the fields. Along field margins, the densities of stink bugs were greatest on the first row and decreased as the distance towards the interior of the cotton field increased. Also, density of stink bugs and boll injury were greatest in cotton adjacent to soybean and peanut fields. These results demonstrate that spatial and temporal variation exists in populations of stink bugs and boll injury along field margins and within fields, and can vary significantly based on the adjacent crop.
Recommended Citation
Reeves, Richard, "SPATIAL-TEMPORAL VARIATION OF THE DENSITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF STINK BUGS (HETEROPTERA: PENTATOMIDAE) IN COTTON, GOSSYPIUM HIRSUTUM (L.), AS PART OF A DIVERSE AGROECOSYSTEM" (2009). All Theses. 656.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/656