There are no reports that the boll-destroying insect has reached cotton fields in the San Joaquin Valley.

The brown stink bug is currently found in most cotton-growing states around the country. While the insecticide Bidrin is used in most areas for BSB control, the problem is Bidrin is not registered for use in California.

Chilly welcome

In 2013, the brown stink bug attacked PVV cotton fields with a fury. California cotton leader Roger Isom called the unwelcome BSB a “devastating pest.”

“Some growers that year lost one-half to one-full-bale of cotton per acre due to the brown stink bug,” said Isom, executive director of the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association (CCGGA).

“We found many cotton bolls lying in the bottom of the furrow with piercing marks on the bolls caused by the pest.”

BSB damage

When pest control advisors first found the pest in the PVV, they immediately contacted University of California Cooperative Extension entomologist Vonny Barlow, Riverside County, who identified the culprit and its damage.

“The brown stink bug inserts its mouthparts through the walls of the cotton boll to extract the juices inside,” Barlow said. “These holes can become a pathway for pathogens to enter the boll. The end result can be boll rot, stained fiber, and yield loss.”

The brown stink bug (Euschistus servus) is a brown-colored pest about half-an-inch long with a checkered edge on the rear and side margins of the body, Barlow says. It looks similar to the consperse stink bug (Euschistus conspersus) yet the consperse bug has spots on its legs – the BSB does not.

BSB has caused unprofitability for many growers this year; making the decision to terminate the crop early to minimize crop losses.

Barlow said, “Some growers have said they’ll cut off the water and harvest what crop they can. This is a big issue in this area.”

Barlow believes the pest entered Riverside County from neighboring Arizona. The two areas are separated only by the Colorado River and the invisible state line.