Efficacy of Selected Insecticides for Control of Heliothines in Arkansas, 2003

The Arkansas recommendation for Heliothine control is to use the higher recommended rates when a cotton production area is under heavy Heliothine pressure (Greene, 2003). However, Heliothine resistance to pyrethroid insecticides has been documented several times in the past few years (Payne et al., 2001; Williams,1999). Tank mixing pyrethroids with non-pyrethroids has been shown to be effective in controlling Heliothine populations (Reaper et al., 2002). As a result of resistance to pyrethroid insecticides, many companies have begun to take an interest in non-pyrethroid insecticides. Compounds such as novaluron (Diamond®), indoxacarb (Steward®), and spinosad (Tracer®) have been introduced as a means of controlling the Heliothine complex. When compared to traditional pyrethroids these products tend to be costlier on a per-acre basis. Previous studies have concluded that when tank mixed with a non-pyrethroid, a traditional pyrethroid provides equal control with labeled rates (Reaper et al., 2001). The purpose of this experiment was to compare the effectiveness of pyrethroids, non-pyrethroids, and non-pyrethroids and pyrethroid tank mixes in controlling a heliothine population that existed in a 2003 cotton production area. The insecticides that were applied in this study that are recommended for Heliothine control in the MP144 2003 Insecticide Recommendations for Arkansas (lamda cyhalothrin,applied at low and