Solenopsis mealybug is an emerging pest of cotton in Australia. Since their first outbreak in Emerald and the Burdekin in 2009, solenopsis mealybug have spread to the South Burnett, Darling Downs and St George regions with the potential to spread further and become an industry-wide pest. Overseas research documents the potential for Solenopsis to cause significant crop damage and describes the diffculties of effective management (Hodgson et al. 2008, Arif et al. 2009, Nagrare et al. 2009). The development of an effective management strategy for solenopsis mealybug will be underpinned by developing a comprehensive understanding of the pests ecology and biology, natural enemies and potential for chemical control within the context of the Australian cotton farming system.

Mirids are a regular pest of Bollgard® II cotton, requiring 2-3 sprays every season. However, pesticide use for mirid control can be problematic within an IPM program due to the disruption of natural enemy complexes and potential flaring of silverleaf whitefly and other secondary pests. The lack of selective or soft insecticide options means that effective monitoring and the judicious use of insecticides, guided by empirically derived thresholds is critical. The cotton industry has invested much effort into the development of thresholds for mirids, but recent evidence suggests that many growers and consultants do not use these thresholds (Whitehouse, 2006). It is important that we understand why adoption is not at expected levels and explore both the technical and social contributors in order to provide appropriate support to growers and consultants as they implement IPM. Researching some of the techincal aspects including monitoring (sample sizes at different precision levels), effects of temperature on mirid feeding, IPM fit management options, relationships between organisms responsible for boll rot and transmission by stinkbugs could further improve adopton of IPM in managing mirids and stinkbugs.

The aim of this report is to present the results of the studies conducted on solenopsis mealybugs, mirids and stinkbugs to provide data that can be used to inform the management of these pests within the context of IPM in cotton.