Cotton fleahopper and green plant bug sampling on cotton: comparing seasonal and sampler variability of five sampling techniques

Cotton fleahopper and another emerging pest mirid (Creontiades signatus) are the principal plant bugs of concern in early to mid-season cotton in south Texas. We compared seasonal and sampler variability of using five sampling techniques (visual, beat bucket, beat sheet, KISS [a blower/net devise], and sweep net) to provide relative population size estimates.. Some techniques such as visual plant inspection were more sensitive to sampler variability throughout the sampling season. And some were more seasonally variable such as the beat sheet. Guided by this information and other sampling needs in cotton, the data supported some optimal approaches reflecting a combination of acceptable consistency, ease of use, and likely ability to incorporate the approach into a full-season, full-pest spectra cotton pest sampling program for the region.