Suggested Insecticides for Managing Cotton Insects in the Southern, Eastern and Blackland Areas of Texas
1997

Allen Knutson, Roy D. Parker, Glen C. Moore and Raymond L. Huffman

Extension entomologists, and Extension agents-IPM
The Texas A&M University System

This publication to be used with B-1204, "Managing Cotton Insects in the Southern, Eastern and Blackland Areas of Texas, 1997-1998."

A committee of state and federal research scientists and Extension specialists meets annually to review cotton pest management research and management guidelines. Guidelines are revised at this meeting to reflect the latest proven techniques for maximizing profits for the Texas cotton producer by optimizing inputs and production.

Management of Cotton Pests

Policy Statement for Making Pest Management Suggestions

Endangered Species Regulations

Worker Protection Standard

Table 1. Insecticide suggestion table.

• Cutworms

• Thrips

• Fleahoppers

• Cotton Aphids

• Tarnished Plant Bugs (Lygus spp.)

• Boll Weevil (Overwintered)

• Boll Weevil (In-Season)

• Bollworms and Tobacco Budworms

• Beet Armyworms

• Spider Mites

• Cabbage Looper

• Stink Bugs

• Grasshoppers

Table 2. Registered Bacillus thuringiensis products and labeled rates for controlling bollworm and tobacco budworm

Table 3. Converting pounds active ingredient per gallon to acres per gallon.

Table 4. Converting percent active ingredient to formulated insecticide per acre.

Management of Cotton Pests

The proper management of cotton pests is dependent upon the use of pest management principles. Pest management does not rely solely on insecticides. Therefore, the USER of this insert is strongly encouraged to refer to B-1204 for discussion of pest biology, scouting techniques, economic thresholds, insecticide resistance management, conservation of existing natural control agents, overall crop management practices which do not promote pest problems, ovicide use, microbial insecticide use, and guidelines for protecting bees from insecticides. If the insecticide recommendations in this insert are followed without regard to the other management techniques listed in B-1204, there is a risk of misusing insecticides, resulting in adverse economic and environmental consequences.

Policy Statement for Making Insecticide Use Recommendations

This is not a complete listing of all products registered for cotton or their uses. The insecticides and their suggested use patterns included in this publication reflect a consensus of opinion of Extension entomologists based on field tests. The data from these field tests met the minimum requirements as outlined in the Guidelines for the Annual Entomology Research Review and Extension Guide Revision Conference. Products listed must conform to our performance standards and avoid undue environmental consequences.

Suggested insecticide use rates have exhibited sufficient efficacy in tests to be effective in providing adequate control in field situations. However, it is impossible to eliminate all risks. Conditions or circumstances which are unforeseen or unexpected may result in less than satisfactory results. Weather, crop condition, pest situation and insecticide application can all have an impact on an insecticide's expected performance. The Texas Agricultural Extension Service will not assume responsibility for such risks. Such responsibility shall be assumed by the user of this publication.

Suggested pesticides must be registered and labeled for use by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Department of Agriculture. The status of pesticide label clearances is subject to change and may have changed since this publication was printed. County Extension agents and specialists are advised of changes as they occur.

The USER is always responsible for the effects of pesticide residues on his livestock and crops, as well as problems that could arise from drift or movement of the pesticide from his property to that of others. The user is also responsible for preventing groundwater contamination by using the correct amount of pesticide, being cognizant of potential leaching or runoff problems and safe disposal of leftover pesticide and containers. Always read and follow carefully the instructions on the container label. Pay particular attention to those practices which ensure worker safety.

For additional information, contact your county Extension staff or write the Extension Entomologist, Entomology Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843; or call (409) 845-7026.

Endangered Species Regulations

The Endangered Species Act is designed to protect and to assist in the recovery of animals and plants that are in danger of becoming extinct. In response to the Endangered Species Act, many pesticide labels now carry restrictions limiting the use of products or application methods in designated biologically sensitive areas. These restrictions are subject to change. Refer to the Environmental Hazards or Endangered Species discussion sections of product labels and/or call your local county Extension agent or Fish and Wildlife Service personnel to determine what restrictions apply to your area. Regardless of the law, pesticide users can be good neighbors by being aware of how their actions may affect people and the natural environment.

Worker Protection Standard

The Worker Protection Standard (WPS) is a set of new federal regulations that applies to all pesticides used in agricultural plant production. If you employ any person to produce a plant or plant product for sale and apply any type of pesticide to that crop, WPS applies to you. Beginning January 1, 1995, you must comply with all WPS regulations. The WPS requires you to protect your employees from pesticide exposure. It requires you to provide three basic types of protection for your employees: you must inform employees about exposure, protect employees from exposure, and mitigate pesticide exposures that employees might receive. After 1995 all agricultural pesticides will bear a Worker Protection Standard statement on the label. It will appear in the "DIRECTIONS FOR USE" part of the label. For more detailed information, consult EPA publication 735-B-93-001 (GPO #055-000-0442-1) The Worker Protection Standard for Agricultural Pesticides -- How to Comply: What Employers Need to Know, or call Texas Department of Agriculture, Pesticide Worker Protection program, (512) 463-7717).

Table 1. Insecticide suggestion table.

Pest	Insecticides (listed alphabetically)	Insecticide class1	Pounds active ingredient per acre2	Formulated amount per acre	Precaution status3	Re-entry interval (hrs)4	Honey bee hazard5
Cutworms	Carbaryl (Sevin ® 5% bait)	C	1.5	30 lbs	C	*	H
	Chlorpyrifos (Lorsban ® 4E)	OP	0.75-1.0	1.5-2 pts	W	24	H
	Cyhalothrin (Karate ® 1.0E)	SP	0.02-0.03	2.56-3.84 oz	D	24	H
	Cypermethrin (Ammo ® 2.5E)	SP	0.04-0.1	2-5 oz	C	12	H
	Esfenvalerate (Asana XL ® 0.66E)	SP	0.03-0.05	5.8-9.7 oz	W	12	H
	Methyl Parathion (4E) Methyl Parathion (7.5E)	OP	1.0 1.0	32 oz 17 oz	D D	48*** 48***	H H
	Permethrin (Ambush ® 2.0E) (Pounce ® 3.2E) (Ambush ® 25W) (Pounce ® 25WP)	SP	0.1-0.2 0.1-0.2 0.1-0.2 0.1-0.2	6.4-12.8 oz 4-8 oz 6.4-12.8oz 6.4-12.8oz	W W W W	12 12 12 12	H H H H

*Refer to federal label for specific field re-entry instructions.

**These products are applied to the soil and pose no hazard to honey bees.

***Re-entry interval is 72 hours in areas where the average annual rainfall is less than 25 inches.

****The synthetic pyrethroid insecticides (examples include fenvalerate, bifenthrin, esfenvalerate, cyfluthrin, cyhalothrin, permethrin, tralomethrin and cypermethrin) recommended for control of bollworms and/or tobacco budworms also will provide boll weevil control. However, application intervals similar to those recommended for the traditional phosphate insecticides (3 to 5 days under heavy pressure) are necessary to provide adequate control. When treatments are to be made for a bollworm or budworm-boll weevil complex a suggested treatment regime is to use a pyrethroid followed 3 to 5 days later by a phosphate boll weevil insecticide.
Since pyrethroids are not more effective than phosphates for boll weevil control, but are more effective for bollworm-budworm control, they should be saved for bollworm-budworm management.
We do not recommend using pyrethroids for boll weevil control alone or for early season pests because increased use may enhance the opportunity for insects to develop resistance to pyrethroids.
Bifenthrin suppresses spider mites when used for control of bollworms and tobacco budworms.
The use of synthetic pyrethroid insecticides may increase cotton aphid numbers.

'' Difficulty in controlling cotton aphids has been encountered in some areas of Texas. Poor or erratic control can be expected in the High Plains, Trans Pecos, Rolling Plains and Wintergarden areas. Resistance exists to most registered materials and continued excessive use of certain insecticides is apt to expand the resistance problem. Where resistance exists in an area, the initial insecticide application should be made at the higher labeled rate. Poorest control has occurred during periods of rapid population growth. Contact the county Extension agent in your area for the latest information on aphid control.

"''16 oz rate restricted to fall diapause application

¹C=carbamate; OP=organophosphate; SP=synthetic pyrethroid; CD=cyclodiene; CH=chloronated hydrocarbon; T=triazapentadiene; IGR=insect growth regulator.

² Refer to Table 3 for converting pounds active ingredient per gallon to acres per gallon and to Table 4 for converting percent active ingredient of dry insecticides to formulated insecticide per acre.

³ C=Caution; W=Warning; D=Danger

⁴ Time after application before re-entering fields without protective clothing. The wearing of protective clothing as described on the label may shorten the re-entry interval. In general, no insecticide label will have the statement "allow spray to dry" or "allow dust to settle" as a re-entry interval. However, there may be limited instances where EPA could grant a shorter re-entry interval than the minimum of 12 hours following application. Re-entry intervals are determined by the product's federal label or by Texas Department of Agriculture regulations and are subject to change.

⁵ H=highly toxic; M=moderately toxic; R=relatively non-toxic

Table 2. Registered Bacillus thuringiensis products and labeled rates for controlling bollworm and tobacco budworm

	Pounds active ingredient per gallon
Pounds active ingredient needed per acre	0.15	0.30	0.66	0.90	1.00	1.80	2.00	2.40	2.50	2.67	3.00	3.20	4.00	6.00	6.55	7.50	8.00	9.33
	Acres per gallon*
0.01	15.0	30.0	66.0	90.0	100.0	180.0	200.0	240.0	250.0	267.0	300.0	320.0	400.0	600.0	655.0	750.0	800.0	933.0
0.015	10.0	20.0	44.0	60.0	66.7	120.0	133.3	160.0	166.7	178.0	200.0	213.3	266.7	400.0	436.7	500.0	533.3	622.0
0.019	7.9	15.8	34.7	47.4	52.6	94.7	105.3	126.3	131.6	140.5	157.9	168.4	210.5	315.8	344.7	394.7	421.1	491.1
0.02	7.5	15.0	33.0	45.0	50.0	90.0	100.0	120.0	125.0	133.5	150.0	160.0	200.0	300.0	327.5	375.0	400.0	466.5
0.025	6.0	12.0	26.4	36.0	40.0	72.0	80.0	96.0	100.0	106.8	120.0	128.0	160.0	240.0	262.0	300.0	320.0	373.2
0.03	5.0	10.0	22.0	30.0	33.3	60.0	66.7	80.0	83.3	89.0	100.0	106.7	133.3	200.0	218.3	250.0	266.7	311.0
0.04	3.8	7.5	16.5	22.2	25.0	45.0	50.0	60.0	62.5	66.8	75.0	80.0	100.0	150.0	163.8	187.5	200.0	233.3
0.05	3.0	6.0	13.2	18.0	20.0	36.0	40.0	48.0	50.0	53.4	60.0	64.0	80.0	120.0	131.0	150.0	160.0	186.6
0.062	2.4	4.8	10.6	14.4	16.0	28.8	32.0	38.4	40.0	42.7	48.0	51.2	64.0	96.0	104.8	120.0	128.0	149.3
0.08	1.9	3.8	8.3	11.3	12.5	22.5	25.0	30.0	31.3	33.4	37.5	40.0	50.0	75.0	81.9	93.8	100.0	116.6
0.1	1.5	3.0	6.6	9.0	10.0	18.0	20.0	24.0	25.0	26.7	30.0	32.0	40.0	60.0	65.5	75.0	80.0	93.3
0.11	1.4	2.7	6.0	8.2	9.1	16.4	18.2	21.8	22.7	24.3	27.3	29.1	36.4	54.5	59.5	68.2	72.7	84.8
0.113	1.3	2.7	5.8	7.9	8.8	15.9	17.7	21.2	22.1	23.6	26.5	28.3	35.4	53.1	58.0	66.4	70.8	82.6
0.125	1.2	2.4	5.3	7.2	8.0	14.4	16.0	19.2	20.0	21.4	24.0	25.6	32.0	48.0	52.4	60.0	64.0	74.6
0.17	0.9	1.8	3.9	5.3	5.9	10.6	11.8	14.1	14.7	15.7	17.6	18.8	23.5	35.3	38.5	44.1	47.1	54.9
0.19	0.8	1.6	3.5	4.7	5.3	9.5	10.5	12.6	13.2	14.1	15.8	16.8	21.1	31.6	34.5	39.5	42.1	49.1
0.2	0.7	1.5	3.3	4.5	5.0	9.0	10.0	12.0	12.5	13.4	15.0	16.0	20.0	30.0	32.8	37.5	40.0	48.7
0.22	0.7	1.4	3.0	4.1	4.5	8.2	9.1	10.9	11.4	12.1	13.6	14.5	18.2	27.3	29.8	34.1	36.4	42.4
0.225	0.6	1.3	2.9	4.0	4.4	8.0	8.9	10.7	11.1	11.9	13.3	14.2	17.8	26.7	29.1	33.3	35.6	41.5
0.25	0.6	1.2	2.6	3.6	4.0	7.2	8.0	9.6	10.0	10.7	12.0	12.8	16.0	24.0	26.2	30.0	32.0	37.3
0.33	0.4	0.9	2.0	2.7	3.0	5.5	6.1	7.3	7.6	8.1	9.1	9.7	12.1	18.2	19.8	22.7	24.2	28.3
0.37	0.4	0.8	1.8	2.5	2.7	4.9	5.4	6.5	6.8	7.2	8.1	8.6	10.8	16.2	17.7	20.3	21.6	25.2
0.375	0.4	0.8	1.8	2.4	2.7	4.8	5.3	6.4	8.7	7.1	8.0	8.5	10.7	16.0	17.5	20.0	21.3	24.9
0.45	0.3	0.7	1.5	2.0	2.2	4.0	4.4	5.3	5.6	5.9	6.7	7.1	8.9	13.3	14.6	16.7	17.8	20.7
0.5	0.3	0.6	1.3	1.8	2.0	3.6	4.0	4.8	5.0	5.3	6.0	6.4	8.0	12.0	13.1	15.0	16.0	18.7
0.55	0.3	0.5	1.2	1.6	1.8	3.3	3.6	4.4	4.5	4.9	5.5	5.8	7.3	10.9	11.9	13.6	14.5	17.0
0.58	0.3	0.5	1.1	1.5	1.7	3.1	3.4	4.1	4.3	4.6	5.2	5.5	6.9	10.3	11.3	12.9	13.8	16.1
0.6	0.2	0.5	1.1	1.5	1.7	3.0	3.3	4.0	4.2	4.5	5.0	5.3	6.7	10.0	10.9	12.5	13.3	15.6
0.675	0.2	0.4	1.0	1.4	1.5	2.7	3.0	3.6	3.7	4.0	4.4	4.7	5.9	8.9	9.7	11.1	11.9	13.8
0.75	0.2	0.4	0.9	1.2	1.3	2.4	2.7	3.2	3.3	3.6	4.0	4.3	5.3	8.0	8.7	10.0	10.7	12.4
0.8	0.2	0.4	0.8	1.2	1.3	2.3	2.5	3.0	3.1	3.3	3.8	4.0	5.0	7.5	8.2	9.4	10.0	11.7
0.88	0.2	0.3	0.8	1.0	1.1	2.0	2.3	2.7	2.8	3.0	3.4	3.6	4.5	6.8	7.4	8.5	9.1	10.6
0.9	0.2	0.3	0.7	1.0	1.1	2.0	2.2	2.7	2.8	3.0	3.3	3.6	4.4	6.7	7.3	8.3	8.9	10.4
1	0.1	0.3	0.7	0.9	1.0	1.8	2.0	2.4	2.5	2.7	3.0	3.2	4.0	6.0	6.6	7.5	8.0	9.3
1.17	0.1	0.3	0.6	0.8	0.9	1.5	1.7	2.1	2.1	2.3	2.6	2.7	3.4	5.1	5.8	6.4	6.8	8.0
1.25	0.1	0.2	0.5	0.7	0.8	1.4	1.6	1.9	2.0	2.1	2.4	2.6	3.2	4.8	5.2	6.0	6.4	7.5
1.5	0.1	0.2	0.4	0.6	0.7	1.2	1.3	1.6	1.7	1.8	2.0	2.1	2.7	4.0	4.4	5.0	5.3	6.2
1.6	0.1	0.2	0.4	0.5	0.6	1.1	1.3	1.5	1.6	1.7	1.9	2.0	2.5	3.8	4.1	4.7	5.0	5.8
2	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.5	0.5	0.9	1.0	1.2	1.3	1.3	1.5	1.6	2.0	3.0	3.3	3.8	4.0	4.7

*See Table 1 for specific rates of insecticides for each insect or mite pest.

Table 4. Converting percent active ingredient of dry insecticides to formulated insecticide per acre.

*See Table 1 for specific rates of insecticides for each insect or mite pest.

The information given herein is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Cooperative Extension Service is implied.

Educational programs conducted by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age or national origin.

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, Acts of Congress of May 8, 1914, as amended, and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the UnitedStates Department of Agriculture. Zerle L. Carpenter, Director, Texas Agricultural Extension Service, The Texas A&M University System.

2M-4-97, Revision

ENT, AGR 2

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Last modified: August 29, 1997 by Rudolf Bendixen