Fusarium Hardlock Associated With (Hemiptera: Miridae) Injury in Southeastern Cotton.

The tarnished plant bug, (Palisot de Beauvois), is an important insect pest in cotton that feeds on reproductive fruit, contributing to yield loss. Economically damaging infestations of have doubled in Virginia since 2013. Escalation of abundance may increase Fusarium hardlock disease observed in this region, compounding economic losses. Research has linked Fusarium hardlock with fungal species and . Field and greenhouse experiments were performed to investigate (i) Fusarium hardlock occurrence in field plots managed and unmanaged for , (ii) severity of infection of cotton bolls with and without the presence of feeding in a greenhouse setting, and (iii) species composition and prevalence within field-collected and cotton lint with and without insect feeding injury and hardlock symptoms present. Nearly twice the amount of hardlock (i.e., proportion of hardlocked locules) occurred in field-collected bolls with feeding symptoms (0.40 ± 0.02) compared with bolls without (0.21 ± 0.01). Based on real-time quantitative PCR, cotton bolls exposed to inoculum and caged with adults had greater levels of DNA compared with untreated bolls. , , and were isolated from field-collected and hardlocked cotton lint at harvest. These findings suggest that the presence of is associated with an increased risk of Fusarium hardlock in Southeastern cotton, and both should be carefully managed using timely insecticide applications and cultural control practices to minimize yield loss.