Cotton: New Potential Pest, Cottonseed Bug, Detected In Extreme S. Florida

USDA has issued an advisory regarding a potential cotton pest that has been detected in both Puerto Rico and the southernmost island in the Florida Keys.

The pest, the cottonseed bug (Oxycarenus hyalinipennis), is a pest of economic importance in Africa and Southeast Asia, according to a report prepared by USDA’s Plant Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Lab in Raleigh, N.C. Some sources also list it as a major pest in Brazil and India.

According to the report:

• It also is a potential pest on hibiscus and okra, among other crops. Israeli scientists, for example, have detected damage on fruit trees.
   
• In cotton, it damages seed in open bolls by sucking oil. That reduces seed weight. Staining also occurs when the insect is crushed during cotton harvest.

- Owen Taylor