Cotton Seed Bug

   

The Cotton Seed Bug is on the move!  It was originally found on Stock Island and Key West.

Several closely related species can readily be confused with each other and with the exotic species, and several have similar hosts.  However, if you find a large number of small bugs in a cotton boll, the bugs are very likely to be the Cotton Seed Bug. In this case, please contact the Division of Plant Industry (DPI) immediately at 352-372-3505.

Please mail your specimens by USPS to:
Entomology
FDACS, Division of Plant Industry
PO Box 147100
Gainesville, FL 32614-7100

Please send only dead specimens (killed in alcohol or frozen, then placed in alcohol).  You can use rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol for this purpose. In a letter, indicate your name, the date and location where the specimens were collected, and a phone number and e-mail address with which you can be contacted.
 

• Pictures of the Cotton Seed Bug (pdf)
• More pictures of the Cotton Seed Bug (pdf)
• DPI - Pest Alert - Cotton Seed Bug article (pdf)
• Cotton Seed Bug Pest Alert (pdf)
• A Major Pest of Cotton (pdf)

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