Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Phytoparasitica, cilt.49, sa.5, ss.793-805, 2021 (SCI-Expanded)
The dusky cotton bug, Oxycarenus hyalinipennis (Costa) (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae) is a common insect species in cotton fields of the Eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey during the critical developmental period of the plants (i.e. squaring-boll formation period). Although the adults of the pest are mostly detected in young squares and bolls of cotton plants, its damage status on them is not yet known. With this study, the population dynamics and damage status of the O. hyalinipennis were investigated in a cotton field in Adana Province, Turkey in 2017 and 2018. Oxycarenus hyalinipennis adult population density increased after mid-July on the square, flower, and green bolls, and then it decreased after the first week of August. The females started to lay eggs in a period close to the opening of the mature green bolls. The population density of nymphs was higher when the mature green bolls were opened (in September). Adults were mostly found in squares (30.37% and 34.44% in 2017 and 2018, respectively) or green bolls (35.19% and 27.16% in 2017 and 2018, respectively), while nymphs were mostly found in opened bolls (65.03% and 57.45% in 2017 and 2018, respectively). With the cage trials, it has been found that adult females did not cause any damage to squares and green bolls. It has been commented that the presence of adults in these generative organs may be its behavioral characteristic rather than its feeding on these plant parts.