title: Development of sampling plans for cotton bolls injured by stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae).
abstract: Cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., bolls were sampled in commercial fields for stink bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) injury during 2007 and 2008 in South Carolina and Georgia. Across both years of this study, boll-injury percentages averaged 14.8 +/- 0.3 (SEM). At average boll injury treatment levels of 10, 20, 30, and 50%, the percentage of samples with at least one injured boll was 82, 97, 100, and 100%, respectively. Percentage of field-sampling date combinations with average injury < 10, 20, 30, and 50% was 35, 80, 95, and 99%, respectively. At the average of 14.8% boll injury or 2.9 injured bolls per 20-boll sample, 112 samples at Dx = 0.1 (within 10% of the mean) were required for population estimation, compared with only 15 samples at Dx = 0.3. Using a sample size of 20 bolls, our study indicated that, at the 10% threshold and alpha = beta = 0.2 (with 80% confidence), control was not needed when <1.03 bolls were injured. The sampling plan required continued sampling for a range of 1.03-3.8 injured bolls per 20-boll sample. Only when injury was > 3.8 injured bolls per 20-boll sample was a control measure needed. Sequential sampling plans were also determined for thresholds of 20, 30, and 50% injured bolls. Sample sizes for sequential sampling plans were significantly reduced when compared with a fixed sampling plan (n=10) for all thresholds and error rates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Soils, and Plant Sciences, Pee Dee Research and Education Center, Clemson University, 2200 Pocket Rd., Florence, SC 29506-9727, USA. freayjo@clemson.edu
authors.forename: F P F
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Reay-Jones
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Toews
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Reeves
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003368:Gossypium / Q000469:parasitology*; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000502:physiology*; D007300:Insect Control; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012107:Research Design