In 2011, the telephone in the Arizona Pest Management Center at the University of Arizona (UA) started ringing. Farmers and pest control advisors (PCAs) from Central Arizona and along the Colorado River on the Arizona-California border were reporting elevated levels of brown stink bugs (BSB) in Upland cotton.

“We’ve had them in our area for at least 100 years, but haven’t had a major outbreak since 1963,” explains Lydia Brown, assistant for Extension, Agronomic Crops IPM, and a Master’s student in Entomology and Insect Science, under the tutelage of Peter Ellsworth, UA IPM specialist.

BSB, a seed-feeding insect, pierces immature bolls causing damage which can lead to boll shed, and a reduction in yield and quality.