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INSECTS AND WEEDS IN FOCUS

ROY D. PARKER, EXTENSION ENTOMOLOGIST JOHN E. BREMER, EXTENSION WEED SPECIALISTROUTE 2, BOX 589 - CORPUS CHRISTI, TX 78406

PHONE: 361-265-9203Web site: http://entowww.tamu.edu http://agfacts.tamu.edu/~rparker/

VOL. XXVI NO. 12 ENTO/WS October 15, 2001

pp TEXAS GULF COST COTTON CONFERENCEACCEPTING REGISTRATION

pp DATANA CATERPILLARS RETURN TO LIVEOAKS

pp PAUL MULLER & THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR DDTpp SOME ORTHENE USES PHASED OUTpp SYNGENTA’S ADAGE NOW CALLED CRUISERpp ‘TECHNOLOGY-THE COMMON THREAD’:

BELTWIDE COTTON CONFERENCE THEMEpp MONARCH BUTTERFLY MIGRATIONpp BOLL WEEVIL ERADICATION PROGRAM

BALLOTSpp A LOOK BACK AT THE BOLL WEEVILpp INTERESTING INSECTS

TEXAS GULF COAST COTTON CONFERENCEACCEPTING REGISTRATION

The Texas Gulf Coast Cotton Conference will be held onNovember 7 & 8, 2001 in Corpus Christi at the HolidayInn - Airport. The October 18th early registrationdeadline is drawing near. On or before that date,participants can attend this day and a halfconference for a $25.00 per person fee. After thatdate a late registration fee of $40.00 per person willbe required. The special conference rates at theheadquarters hotel will also increase after theOctober 18th date.

This conference will focus on issues relevant to thefuture of the cotton industry. Yield improvement, lintquality and marketing strategies to improve growerreturns are topics that will be covered by a variety ofexperts from throughout the U.S. cotton industry. Statusof the cotton industry will highlight the opening session.Speakers with the National Cotton Council, U.S. TextileTrade, and Cotton Incorporated will share theirprospective on both the domestic and global side of thecotton industry.

Featured luncheon speaker will be William Dunavant,Jr., a world-wide cotton merchant headquartered atMemphis, Tennessee. He will share his perspective on

the global cotton market and factors influencing pricetrends for cotton in the year ahead. "MarketingStrategies to Enhance Grower Returns" will be thetopic discussed following lunch by a panel of leadingcotton merchandisers and marketing pool managers.See the enclosed dated agenda and registration form.

RDP

DATANA CATERPILLARS RETURN TO LIVEOAKS

The datana caterpillar, referred to by some in SouthTexas as the live oak caterpillar is again feeding onlive oak trees in the Corpus Christi area. Thiscaterpillar is black with white stripes along the bodyand long white hairs are present on the body. Themoth lays eggs in a mass, caterpillars feed in groupsand when disturbed tend to raise each end of thebody. Often they occur high up in trees on the outerbranches. We have now observed the species almostevery month of the year. Some people refer to thesecaterppillars as armyworms; they are not. Treatmentwith any commonly used insecticide labeled forcaterpillars on shade trees seems to eliminateinfestations. RDP

PAUL MULLER & THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR DDT

In the last newsletter, the question was: “Does anyoneremember why he (Paul Muller) was awarded theNobel Prize?” Gary Odvody, Plant Pathologist,pointed out that he won the prize in Medicine andPhysiology in 1948 for the lives saved by DDT,especially in World War II, by controlling insect vectorsthat transmitted organisms that cause malaria, typhusetc. Odvody further pointed out that the year was not1946 as was printed in the newsletter. Another Mullerwon the Nobel Prize in the same category in 1946.Herman Joseph Muller was awarded the prize for hisdiscovery of mutations caused by X-ray irradiation(Odvody said this was mulling over Muller). RDP

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SOME ORTHENE USES PHASED OUT

This article was written by Dr. Michael Merchant,Extension Entomologist at Dallas and slightly modifiedfor this newsletter:

Despite coming under close scrutiny as a result ofstricter pesticide regulations, the widely used house andgarden insecticide, Orthene, emerged with only minorrestrictions to its current label.

After an intensive review of acephate, the activeingredient in Orthene, the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency concluded that Orthene products are acceptablefor continued use in agriculture and for most uses byprofessional applicators. However, certain indoor andoutdoor uses of Orthene will be phased out under anagreement with the manufacturer. Valent Corporation,the basic manufacturer of acephate, has agreed toeliminate all professional applications inside residentialbuildings, including homes and apartments. In addition,some lawn uses by unlicensed consumers will beeliminated. According to Valent spokesperson, Dan Fay,Orthene will remain available for homeowner andprofessional use as a spot or mound treatment toresidential turf for fire ant control. What will bewithdrawn is the broadcast use on residential turf forchinch bugs, mole crickets, and other pests.

The change to uses of Orthene follows more drasticrestrictions applied last year to the two most widely usedconsumer insecticides, diazinon and Dursban. Recentproduct use cancellations are the direct result of stricterstandards imposed by the Food Quality Protection Actof 1996, which require all pesticides registered in theU.S. to undergo a careful review of their total humanexposure. New FQPA safety guidelines are ten timesmore strict than previous regulations to account foruncertainties in calculating safe pesticide exposurelevels for children. Consumer uses of diazinon andDursban insecticides were largely eliminated as a resultof earlier EPA reviews.

T h e e n t i r e a r t i c l e c a n b e f o u n d a thttp://dallas.tamu.edu/insects. RDP

SYNGENTA’S ADAGE NOW CALLED CRUISER

Syngenta has renamed its Adage seed treatmentinsecticide, as Cruiser, in an effort to create aconsistent, global brand name.

“Cruiser is our global trade name for seed treatmentproducts with the active ingredient thiamethoxam,”explains Mark Jirak, seed treatment market manager forSyngenta. “Unfortunately, we were unable to secure theCruiser trademark in the United States when we

received the Section 3 label, so we launched asAdage.”

“We’ve now been able to secure the rights to theCruiser name in the United States, so we feel we cansimplify recognition for our customers by standardizingto the Cruiser name globally.” RDP

‘TECHNOLOGY-THE COMMON THREAD’:BELTWIDE COTTON CONFERENCES THEME

“Technology - The Common Thread” is theme of theBeltwide Cotton Conferences, Jan. 8-12, 2002 atMarriott Marquis and Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, GA.Included is 47th annual Beltwide Cotton ProductionConference, set for Wednesday, Jan. 9 and Thursday,Jan. 10. That conference’s general session willfeature reports and panel discussions onbiotechnology, cotton improvement, cultural practicesfor least-cost production, fiber quality, globalcompetition, marketing, new technologies and othertopics. Afternoon hands-on workshops will focus onelectronic tools, nematodes and precision agriculture.Seminars and panels will cover agricultural chemicalconsolidations, E trading, insurance and newdevelopments from industry. Cotton technicalconferences, including joint sessions and postersessions, will run Jan. 11 and Jan. 12. CottonFoundation Technical Exhibit will be open Jan. 9-10.

Conferences’ information booklet were mailed Sept.10 to previous attendees, and information will beposted at www.cotton.org/beltwide. For furtherinformation, contact NCC’s Debbie Richter, PO820285, Memphis, TN 38182 (901) 274-9030 FX (901)725-0510 or email drichter@cotton.org. RDP

MONARCH BUTTERFLY MIGRATION

This article came from the Omaha World Herald,September 24, 2001: Authorities in Texas, throughwhich the monarch butterfly migration makes its wayevery year, say they expect three to six times more ofthe butterflies than usual. If they are on the mark, itwould be a spectacular number indeed. It would alsobe good news after what appears to have been anoverblown panic over the reported effect of biotechcorn on the monarch. That would amount to 150million to 300 million of the fluttering orange-and-blackbeauties, enough to draw the attention of even themost unaware Texan. They usually migrate throughthat state in late September or early October on theway to their wintering grounds in Mexico and CentralAmerica.

Monarchs are the only butterflies that migrate (longdistances), a mystery through and through. A butterfly

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Full-grown prepupa pupa adult larva

seen heading south this month isn't the butterfly that willreach Mexico - this butterfly dies, that one is hatched enroute. And the same happens on the migration north.The mystery is: How do insects pass on, fromgeneration to generation, the knowledge of where to goin Mexico, when no one butterfly ever makes the entiretrip? They don't carry maps, that's for sure. Nor do theyuse the Global Positioning System. It's one of thoseminor miracles of nature that the human animal hasn'tyet figured out.

Meanwhile, sit back and enjoy the sight. Not everyoneis privileged to see the migration, with its clouds andswirls and streams of flittery, fantastic wings. Butanyone can sit still for a while in the back yard, the parkor the countryside, and see one, single, perfectmonarch. And that's a spectacle in itself. RDP

BOLL WEEVIL ERADICATION PROGRAMBALLOTS

All ballots must be postmarked no later than October 22,2001 to qualify as an eligible vote. Growers will votewhether to continue the South Texas/Winter GardenZone boll weevil eradication program. Determination ofthe election will be by simple majority vote of thosegrowers casting ballots in the election. The cottonacres represented by those voting will have nobearing on the outcome of the election.

In addition to voting to continue the program, cottongrowers will be asked to vote for an individual torepresent the South Texas/Winter Garden Zone on theTexas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation Board ofDirectors. The one person who receives the most voteswill serve a four year term. If the referendum tocontinue the eradication program fails, the boardmember election will have no effect and thecommissioner of agriculture will appoint a board memberto represent the zone and the program will be shutdown. RDP

A LOOK BACK AT THE BOLL WEEVIL

In 1996 we conducted an experiment to compareinsecticides for effectiveness in controlling boll weevilsand impact on other cotton arthropods (aphids,predators, caterpillars). Eleven treatments were appliedfor boll weevils (2 early-season and 9 in-season). Yet,season averages for punctured squares across allinsecticides was 14.4% (Table 1). Lint yield increaseacross all insecticide treatments was 213 lb/acrecompared to the untreated cotton.

Contact us if you desire to view the entire report withstatistical analysis etc. RDP

Table 1. A look back at the impact of the boll weevilon cotton, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station,Nueces County, 1996.

Treatmenta

Season averages Lint lbperacre

% pct.squares

% weevilda. bollsb

Guthion 2L 22.8 22.8 565Regent 2.5E 12.0 25.1 643Vydate CLV 14.0 25.0 579Phaser 3EC 15.7 30.4 570Thiodan 2CS0 15.3 18.2 652Karate 1E 10.8 9.4 561Bythroid 2E 8.2 11.6 525Pencap-M2 16.3 15.4 685Untreated 35.0 53.7 385

a Treatments were made 5/17 and 5/21 foroverwintered boll weevils. In-season treatmentswere made 6/10, 14, 17, 21, 24, 28; 7/1, 5, 8.

b Harvested boll containing any weevil damage.

INTERESTING INSECTS

Some people find it hard to believe that thripscomprise an entire insect order (Thysanoptera:thysano=fringe; ptera=wings). There areapproximately 4,000 species of thrips worldwide and694 species in America north of Mexico. Thrips areminute, slender-bodied insects ranging in length from0.5-5.0mm. Wings may be present or absent. Wingswhen fully developed are long, very narrow andfringed with long hairs. Their mouthparts have beentermed “rasping-sucking” but it is probable that thestylets pierce rather than rasp tissues upon which theyfeed. The metamorphosis of thrips is somewhatintermediate between simple and complete and isquite complicated or variable depending upon species.Many species are plant feeders and serious pests ofcultivated plants and ornamentals, a few species feedon fungal spores, and a few are predators on othersmall arthropods such as mites. These insectssometimes occur in enormous numbers, and a fewspecies may bite people. Whether one speaks of oneor more, the correct terminology is “thrips”, never“thrip”. A real entomologist does not use the word“thrip”. RDP

Red banded thrips

View our newsletter earlier on the internet on the TPMA website (http://www.tpma.org/) by selecting “IPM newsletter” on the drop-down menu by going to“Coastal Bend” and “go”. Another site is http://agfacts.tamu.edu/~rparker. Also pest management information is available at www.txaac.org.*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************Educational programs conducted by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service serve people of all ages regardless of socioeconomic level, race, color, sex,religion, handicap or national origin. The information given herein is for educational purposes only. References to commercial products or trade names ismade with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Cooperative Extension Service is implied.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating