Field Technique for Identifying Causes of Pinhead Square Shed in Cotton

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Abstract
A technique was developed for field identification of three important causes of pinhead square shed in cotton. The procedure consisted of placement of freshly shed pinhead squares in a Plexiglas holder. median longitudinal dissection with a clean razor blade, and observation of internal features with a 30× light-assisted pocket scope. In greenhouse studies, squares physiologically induced to shed were uniformly desiccated, with no evidence of localized necrosis. Squares shed because of feeding by tarnished plant bug (TPB), Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), exhibited varying degrees of localized necrosis and irregular desiccation. Squares shed because of Heliothis spp. feeding were characterized usually by a hole through the calyx and absence of internal structures; occasionally no hole was visible and internal structures were only partially damaged. All symptoms were easily distinguishable. When this technique was used in the field, it enabled detection of a significant correlation between TPB numbers and squares shed because of TPB feeding in the same week.

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