Entrapment RC provides superior thrip and plant bug control in early season cotton crops

In many cotton growing areas from Georgia to Texas, the two major insect pests that most growers must combat are thrips and plant bugs. Attune Agriculture conducted trials on both insects at AgriThority in Richmond, Texas in 2023 with Entrapment RC.

Tobacco Thrips

Thrips are usually a problem in the seedling stage, shortly after cotton emergence. Thrips feed on the tender, young foliage and can cause severe damage from emergence to 5^th true leaf stage. Heavy thrip infestations can stunt plant growth which can reduce plant stand. The threshold for taking action is 1 thrip per leaf.

The common practice for control of thrips is to use either a seed treatment or an in-furrow application of a systemic insecticide. Imidacloprid (Admire Pro®) is most often used for either of these treatment methods. With heavy thrip infestations or if cool temperatures prolong the early seedling stage, a foliar application is usually required.  

Attune Agriculture conducted field trials to evaluate the efficacy of Entrapment RC compared to the leading insecticides used for control of tobacco thrip in cotton. The cotton was planted on June 7^th, emergence occurred on June 19^th and thrip populations reached a threshold with an average of 2.4 thrips per leaf on July 1^st.  The trial had one treatment that was an in-furrow application at planting of Admire Pro at 8 fl oz/A. Foliar applications were made on July 2^nd which compared Entrapment RC @ 0.125% performance to Bidrin 8 @ 2.5 fl oz/A. A second application was made on July 9^th.  Both foliar applications used a 20 gallon per acre spray volume.    

The trial evaluated performance using two parameters: number of thrips per leaf, and plant damage measured on a 0 to 5 scale (1 = 10% leaf damage to 5 = dead plant). Evaluations were conducted 1 day before the 1^st application, 6 days after the first application and 14 days after the first application/8 days after the second application. 

The thrip count on July 1^st (-1 DAA) in plots not having an in-furrow treatment with Admire Pro, had an average count of 12. The plots with an in-furrow treatment of Admire imidacloprid had an average count of 1, a control level of 91.7%. When thrip counts were taken 6 days after the first application, the in-furrow treated and untreated plots had an average of 6. This indicates that the control provided earlier with the in-furrow treatment was no longer effective. In a commercial setting, a foliar application would have been required. Bidrin and Entrapment RC provided the same level of control at 83.3%. Following the second application, both Bidrin and Entrapment RC provided 100% control.

The average damage rating in plots not having an in-furrow treatment was 2.2 whereas the in-furrow treated plots had a rating of 0.9, 59% lower than the other plots. Plots treated with Entrapment RC had the lowest damage rating 6 days after the first application, 20% better than Bidrin and 27.3% better than the in-furrow treatment. At the final rating, Entrapment RC had a 0 damage rating, whereas, Bidrin had 0.3, the in-furrow treatment had 0.4 and the untreated had 0.7.

This early season trial demonstrates that Entrapment RC provides superior thrip control compared to in-furrow and foliar insecticide applications of the industry standards in both reduction of thrips and their damage.

Tarnished Plant Bugs

Plant bugs are usually a problem later in the season when cotton plants are flowering. Plant bugs initially feed on the developing flower buds, called squares. When plant bugs feed on small squares, it can cause them to die. With substantial loss of squares, the cotton plant can switch from flower production to vegetative growth, creating spindly plants with low cotton yields. When plant bugs feed on larger squares it can damage the anther, styles and stigma, disrupting fertilization. Finally, plant bugs feeding on young bolls can damage the seed causing the lint to turn yellow and reduce lint production. The threshold for taking action is 1 tarnished plant bug per drop cloth.

Attune conducted an evaluation in cotton fields adjacent to the thrip trial. The average tarnished plant bug count reached a level of 1.65 per drop cloth on August 23^rd. A foliar application was made on August 24^th and an evaluation was made on August 31^st. The spray volume was 20 gallons per acre. The evaluation parameter was # of tarnished plant bugs per drop cloth. 

The tarnished plant bug levels were increasing at the time of the trial, 66.6% in the untreated plots from pre-treatment to the application date. Admire Pro @ 1.5 fl oz/A provided tarnished plant bug control of 88% compared to the untreated. Entrapment RC @ 0.125% provided 100% control, a 13.6% improvement over the leading standard.

The tarnished plant bug trial demonstrates that Entrapment RC provides superior control compared to a leading standard.