Effects of Aldicarb Applied Side-Dress to Cotton on Some Arthropods in the Monroe County, Mississippi, Boll Weevil Diapause-Control Area in 196912

The effects of aldicarb on boll weevils, Anthonomus grandis Boheman; Heliothis larvae; and beneficial predators was investigated in large fields of cotton with and without boll weevil sex-attractant traps. Three of the fields in the Monroe County, Miss., boll weevil diapausecontrol area had boll weevil sex-attractant traps, and with 2 lb (0.9 kg) active ingredient of aldicarb applied as a side-dress application to cotton in the pin-head square stage, season-long boll weevil control was obtained. Three aldicarb-treated fields without boll weevil sex-attractant traps had 39 days of boll weevil control. Heliothis larvae became an economic problem earlier in the aldicarb-treated fields than in the control fields. Predator reduction was drastic in the aldicarb-treated fields after the first rain. The predator population generally increased in the control fields until they were treated for control of Heliothis larvae or boll weevils later in the season.