Cotton Whitefly: Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius)

(Insecta: Hemiptera: Aleyroididae)

Symptom of damage
Chlorotic spots on leaves resulting irregular yellowing of leaf tissues from veins to outer edges.
Severe infestation results in premature defoliation.
Development of sooty mould.
Shedding of buds and bolls and poor boll opening.
It also transmits the leaf curl virus disease of cotton.

Severe infestation Sap loss / yellowing Sooty mould Virus transmission

Identification of the pest

Nymph - Greenish yellow, oval in outline.
Pupa - Puparia (pseudopupae) oval in shape, present on the under surface of the leaves.
Adult - Minute insects with yellow body covered with a white waxy bloom.

Nymphs Last instar nymph/Pupae Adult

 Cotton Jassid: Amrasca devastans (Distant)
(Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)

Symptom of damage
Tender leaves become yellow.; the margin of the leaves start curling downwards and reddening sets in.
In the case of severe infestation, leaves get a bronze/brick red color ie. typical jassid burn symptom.
The margin of the leaves get broken and crumble into pieces when crushed.
The leaves dried up and are shed and the growth of the crop is retarded.

Yellowing/broken crumble leaf Curling and dried leaves Brick red jassid burning

Identification of the pest

Nymph - wingless, light green, translucent, found feeding/running around the veins of underside of leaves.
Pupa no pupal stage; nymphal instars grow in size and develop wings without undergoing pupal stage.
Adult - winged, dull green in color, wedge shaped leafhopper.

Wingless jassid nymph Developing wing-pads Full grown adult jassid

 Cotton Thrips: Thrips tabaci (Lindeman)
(Insecta: Thysanoptera: Thripidae)

Symptom of damage
Shriveling of leaves due to scrapping of epidermis and desapping.
Attacked terminal buds have ragged edges.
Heavy desapping results in loss of plant vigor and crop stand.
Silvery shine on the undersurface of leaves.

Damage at seedling stage Poor growth affects crop stand Stunting/ Deformed growth

Identification of the pest

Nymph - Very minute, slender shaped, yellowish brown/black in color, wingless, found on new leaves.
Pupa thrips have no pupal stage; instars change in size and eventually develop wings.
Adult - Small, slender, yellowish to brown with fringed wings of silvery shine in appearance.

Wingless nymph Winged adult thrips Wingless & winged thrips

 Aphid: Aphis gossypii Glover
(Insecta: Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Symptom of damage
Infesting tender shoots and under surface of the leaves.
Curling and crinkling of leaves; stunting of new growth.
Blighted appearance when infestation is severe.
Development of black sooty mould due to the excretion of honey dew giving the plant a dark appearance.

Feed in colonies / honeydew Diseased appearance (virus) Sooty mould / low quality lint

Identification of the pest

Nymph - minute soft bodied, pear shaped, yellowish or greenish brown/black in color, underside the leaves.
Pupa no pupal stage, grow in size with successive instars to develop into adults (oviviviparous).
Adult - both pterous and apterous (wingless / winged) adults breed with multiple overlapping generations.

Breed and feed to in colonies Wingless instars of aphids Winged migratory adults
 Cotton Mites: Tetranychus urticae Koch
T. cinnabarinus (Boisduval) ; T. telarius (Linnaeus)
(Arachnida: Acari/Tetranychoidea: Tetranychidae)

Symptom of damage
Mites feed by piercing plant cell with their mouthparts, keep sucking cell contents of the leaves.
Cell chloroplast are damaged, intensity of photosynthesis is reduced.
Disturbance of metabolic process, leaves become brittle and falls prematurely.
Heavy feeding results in decreased growth, flower shedding and patchy defoliation.
Mites do web-spinning preferable underside of the leaves.
Early infestation leads to heavy economic loss than later attack (14-67% yield reductions).

Pale blotching / red yellow spots Bronzed and silvery foliage Drying up / defoliation in patch

Identification of the pest (Mites are not insects)

Body is divided in two parts (head-cephalothorax-no wings) while insects (head-thorax-abdomen-wings)
Eggs microscopic spherical, lemon or red in color, with stalk glued to leaf surface.
Nymph - very minute in size, three instars, protonymph (six leg) and deutonymph (8 legs).
Adult - 8 legged, pointed spherical body with two darker spots, yellow to dark brown in color.

Eggs and newly hatched mites Full grown mites Female and male mites
 Cotton Mealy bug: Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley
(Insecta: Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

Symptom of damage
Feeds on sap of the plant, inject toxic substances into foliage, cause feeding injury to plant.
Crinkled or twisted leaves and shoots, bunched and unopened leaves.
Distorted or bushy shoots, unopened flowers which often shrivel and die, small deformed fruits.
Loss of plant vigor resulting into poor plant growth, total plant collapse, mostly plants bear less fruit.
Results into leaf curling and drying, excretes heavy honeydew which leads to sooty mould development.
Decrease yield drastically, spread rapidly once introduced in an area.

Feed on all foliage Desapping in large colonies Poor growth - less fruit retention Total plant collapse

Identification of the pest

Eggs/neonates oviviviparous, eggs are in sacs, freshly-laid eggs are orange becoming pink before hatch.
Nymph - minute crawlers and tend to get fixed in later instars, white scaled soft bodied insects.
Pupa less distinctive pupal stage to develop female, similarly least prominent pupae give male flyers.
Adult - female is wingless often has large ovisacs, male has wings to fly with two long waxy tails.

Nymphal instars (crawlers) Winged adult Wingless female with egg sacs with neonates
 Red cotton bug: Dysdercus cingulatus (Fabricius)
D. koenigii (Fabricius)
(Insecta: Hemiptera: Pyrrhocoridae)

Symptom of damage
Both nymphs and adults feed cell sap on leaves, green bolls and on seed sap.
Large numbers of nymphs aggregate around opened and semi-opened bolls to feed.
Inner boll wall with warty growth or water soaked spots, young bolls abort and turn dark brown.
The bacterium Nematospora gossypii enters the site of injury and stains the lint fiber.
Reduce plant vigor, affected bolls rotten or open badly and results into yellowish brown staining of lint.
Affected seed has poor viability and not fit for sowing and oil extraction.
Decrease yield drastically, breed and spread rapidly in an area.

Feeding on foliage Boll injury / warty growth Lint / seed collapse Low stained yield/ less oil

Identification of the pest

Eggs laid in moist soil and ground crevices, spherical, bright yellow in color.
Nymph - wingless, bright red in color, white head collar, black / white markings on abdominal segments.
Pupa do not undergo pupal stage.
Adult - red colored, winged, white collar behind head, two black spots on forewings (red / black in color).

Wingless nymphs Nymphs developing wing pads Winged adult & eggs in soil
 Dusky cotton bug: Oxycarenus hyalinipennis (Costa)
O. laetus Kirby
(Insecta: Hemiptera: Lygaeidae)
Symptom of damage
Both nymphs and adults suck the sap of immature and developing seeds.
It has aggregate feeding in large numbers on opened and semi-opened bolls.
Bugs excreta gives black color staining to lint, thus deteriorate lint quality.
Affected bolls open badly and are difficult to harvest, seeds are discolored and shrunken, unfit for sowing.
In factories, when these bugs are crushed during ginning process, their body fluid stain the lint very badly.
High infestation results in poor cotton yield, low quality seed and decreased oil extraction.

Feeding (semi-opened bolls) Feeding on fluffy bolls Very tight boll opening, bad lint, difficult to harvest

Identification of the pest

Eggs are laid on semi-opened bolls, flower or buds; color varies white/yellow/orange/pink before hatch.
Nymph - pear shaped and wingless, change color from reddish brown to dark brown.
Pupa no pupal stage.
Adult - dusky grey, dull black or dark brown in color, pointed head, dirty white transparent wings.

White/orange/yellow eggs Wingless nymph and winged adults Full grown winged adult
 Other insects pests associated to cotton crop

Cutworm: Agrotis spp. Grasshopper: Chrotogonus spp. Field cricket: Gryllus spp.
Damage by cutting seedlings Feed on seedling plants/foliage Like cutworm cut the seedlings
Affects plant stand Affects early crop growth /stand Affects early crop growth /stand

Stem weevil/ grubs Termites: Micro-/Odontotermis spp. Leaf roller/folder: Sylepta spp.
Pempheres / Sphenoptera spp. Develop colonies /feed on plant roots Roll / fold leaves during feeding
Make galls/galleries in stem /branches Damage early & older plants /stand Scratch /cut leaf tissues

Cotton loopers: Tarache spp. Hairy caterpillar: Amsacta spp. Leaf perforator: Bucculatrix spp.
Like armyworms, feed on leaves Cut and chew the leaf tissues Perforate/make mines on the leaves
Cut leaves and make wholes Annoyance / itchy to field workers Loss of large part of tissues

Bugs: Pseudatomoscelis /Lygus spp. Grey weevil: Myllocerus spp. Green veg. bug: Nezara spp.
Suck sap /feed on tender foliage Feed on flower/squares Suck sap on foliage tissues
Feed on fruiting parts/ fruit shedding Chew tender tissues of flower/leaves Fruiting bodies abort with feeding injury