Identifying the Potential Role of Square Size in Resistance to Cotton Fleahopper (Pseudatomoscelis seriatus) in Upland Cotton

Abstract

Cotton fleahopper (CFH) (Pseudatomoscelis seriatus) is an early season pest of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum, L). Feeding damage results in abscission of young floral buds (squares), and consequently a delay in maturation and potential yield losses. Traditional efforts to breed for CFH have focused on the role that pubescence has played in preferential feeding by CFH. The physical square morphology was investigated as a characteristic of resistance. Fourteen lines derived from the fleahopper breeding efforts and six elite lines from the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Cotton Improvement Lab were grown in a split-block spray non spray design to ascertain fleahopper resistance. Squares were measured throughout the growing season to obtain growth patterns for the 20 lines. Differences in square sizes were observed across the lines. Some relationships between square size, days of susceptibility to CFH feeding, CFH damage and square retention were observed but the data were not conclusive enough in determining whether square size impacts CFH resistance.