Evaluation of damage caused by the cotton shedder bug, Creontiades pallidus Ramber (Hemiptera: Miridae) on different cotton cultivars

The cotton shedder bug, Creontiades pallidus Ramber (Hemi.: Miridae) is one of the most important pests of cotton in Khorasan Razavi province, Iran. In recent years this insect had always been a main pest for cotton in east of Iran especially in Sabzevar region. To evaluate the damage caused by pest on different cultivars (Bakhtegan, Khordad, Sahel, Sepeed, Mehr and Varamin), an experiment was carried out at the Agricultural Research Station of Sabzevar during 2013-2014. Experiment was designed as randomized complete blocks with six treatments and four replications. In this study, ten constant plants in each plot were selected randomly and marked for sampling until the end of the project. On each count, the number of black spots due to feeding of C. pallidus on all bolls of each plant was counted and finally, the mean number of black spots on 10 plants were calculated. Samples were taken on 14 occasions from 14th July to 14th October 2013. Analysis variance showed a significant difference among the cultivars at the level of 1%. The mean comparison of cultivars treatments showed that the highest and lowest damage by C. pallidus were observed on the Varamin, Bakhtegan and Mehr cultivars, respectively.