Cody Weaver and I were checking quite a few cotton fields this morning. At 8th week of bloom, and our stink bug threshold moves into the 50% range since there are so few bolls left stink bugs are likely to damage. The highest damage 
we found was 10%. We did see a leaffooted bug which is also a boll- feeding insect. It is in the same insect order, Hemiptera, as stink bug but in the family Coreidae. They also have piercing-sucking mouthparts. UGA Extension Entomologist Dr. Phillip Roberts says we cannot decipher the damage from a stink bug, leaf-footed bug, plant bug, etc. We just check for damaged bolls and include them in our percentage. Here is a damaged boll we found with both lint and warts.
We’re also seeing lots of dropped bolls resulting from drought conditions. There were not has many bolls opening in these fields. We also identified many minute pirate bugs, a beneficial insect. They are easier to see in the blooms since they are small and black colored.
Leaffooted Bug
Thomas County Ag 