Host Plants and Seasonal Distribution of the Tarnished Plant Bug (Hemiptera: Miridae) in the Delta of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi

Abstract

Sweep-net samples taken at monthly intervals on wild and cultivated host plants at 15 locations in the delta of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, were utilized to study the host plants and seasonal distribution of the tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois). Tarnished plant bugs were collected on 169 host plant species found in 36 plant families. The plant family having the largest number of host plant species was the Asteraceae, and 26.5% of all tarnished plant bug host plant species were in this family. Adult tarnished plant bugs were active on wild host plants each month of the year. The highest populations were found during May and June, and during September and October. Adult migration to cotton and soybeans in June and July was partly caused by a decrease in the number and maturation of many wild host plant species.