Red cotton bug in Cotton Crop
Common Name: Red cotton bug
Local Name: Tambde dhekun
Scientific Name: Dysdercus cingulanus Fab.
Family: Pyrrhocoridae
Order: Hemiptera
Pest Category: Lint Stainers
Distribution and status:
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bombay, Andhra Pradesh, and Tropical Africa, Tropical Asia, Australia, U.S.A. Central, and South America and India. Regular pest at crop maturity.
Host Plants: Cotton, Bhendi, Maize, Pearl Millet, Hollyhock, Clover, Sorghum, and Silk Cotton.
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| Red Cotton Bug Life Cycle in Cotton |
Description of Insect Stages:
Egg:
Eggs are laid in moist soil or in crevices in the ground. They are spherical and bright yellow in color.
Nymph:
Nymphs are red-colored with black median dorsal spots on the inter-tergal membrane of 3/4, 4/5 and 5/6 abdominal segments. There is a pair of a white dorsal spot on each of the third, fourth and fifth tergal plates on the abdomen
Adult:
Adults are 12-13 mm in length and have deep red legs and antennae. The membranous portion of the forewings and the eyes are black in color. There is also a black spot in each
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| Red Cotton Bug Nymph Stage on Cotton |
forewing. The transverse bands along the posterior margins of each Adult of red cotton bug
thoracic and abdominal sterna, the collar behind the head and the spots at the Basco the head are white in color.
Bionomics:
The adult is a red and black bug with white stripes ventrally on the abdomen. The eggs are laid in loose masses in the soil. The fecundity of the bug is 100 – 130. Egg period 4-7 days. The nymph undergoes six instars to become an adult. The nymphal period lasts for 26 - 89 days. The adult bug undergoes hibernation (resting period) during winter months.
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| Red Cotton Bug Nymph Stage on Cotton |
Nature of Damage:
Adults and nymphs suck the sap from leaves, green bolls, and seeds of partially opened bolls. The vitality of the plant is lowered, in general. Affected bolls open badly with their lint stained with the excreta or body juices. Quality of the lint is affected and the attacked seeds become unfit for either sowing or oil extraction. Boll rot is caused by the secondary infection due to bacteria wherein rotting of the entire contents of the boll occur following the initial discoloration of the lint to yellow or brown.
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| Red Cotton Bug Adult Stage on Cotton |
Symptoms:
Stained or discolored lint yellow color. Reddish nymphs are seen in aggregation around developing and open bolls. Adult movement on the soil and over the plants are a common sight once they occur in the cotton fields,
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| Red Cotton Bug Adult Stage on Cotton |
Life History:
The eggs are laid immature under the soil in not ripe. cracks and are weight. A lint gets covered with loose earth or with small dry leaves. winning. Eggs are round and light yellowish. Each female is odor and capable of laying between 100-130 eggs. Egg period Symptoms lasts 7-8 days. Nymphs after hatching are wingless Being ass with their abdomen red with a central row of black spots the open and row of white spots on either side. Nymphal period causes last for 5-7 days. Nymphs pass through five molts with wings developing from the third instar and picking Di attaining full form after the fifth. The development is the lint with completed in 50-90 days. Males are smaller than the nymphs females and the swollen abdomen can differentiate brown to black females for males.
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| Red Cotton Bug Adult Stage on Cotton |
Seasonal Dynamics of Stainers:
Red cotton bug appearance on cotton is after the commencement of the first open boll in the cotton fields. The dusky cotton bug appears on cotton is when the majority of bolls on the crop are open. As they occur at the end of the crop season and the loss caused have been minimal, not much attention, Nas, been given to the counting their numbers than describing their status a slow, medium and high. Usually, the insecticides that were applied during the mid to late seasons against
bollworms suppressed their population effectively. However, with the reduced insecticide use against
bollworms in the 21" century and the large-scale commercial cultivation of Bt transgenic cotton hybrids has led to an increase in the population of these red cotton bugs. No estimates are available as on date to specify the degree of lint quality loss caused by these red cotton bugs but might deserve attention if their severity rises in the future.
Pest Management Options:
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| Red Cotton Bug Adult Stage on Cotton |
The initial population of red cotton bugs has been found to be susceptible to all the insecticides used for pink bollworm control. Since they appear very late in the crop season their management is not attended to. However, with the changing pest scenario on cotton and with the severity of stainers on the increasing trend, it is necessary to take proper care with the onset of the population. Dislodging the gregarious population of the stain on the bolls into a vessel containing water with a thin film of kerosene is recommended as the late-season insecticidal application leaves residues in the harvested produce besides being uneconomical.
Management:
Biocontrol agent Harpactor costalis is predaceous on nymph and adult;
- Since the pest feeds gregariously, the infested leaves or bolls can be shaken in water and drowned.
- Plough the field to expose the eggs.
- Spray fluvalinate 25 EC 200-400 ml/ha Endosulfan 35 EC 750 ml/ha.
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| Red Cotton Bug Adult Stage on Cotton |
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| Red Cotton Bug Adult Stage on Cotton |
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