Stink Bug Feeding Induces Fluorescence in Developing Cotton Bolls

Fluorescent imaging under long-wave ultraviolet light showed that stink bug-damaged lint, the inner carpal wall, and the outside of the boll emitted strong blue-green fluorescence in a circular region near the puncture wound, whereas undamaged tissue emissions occurred at different wavelengths; the much weaker emission of undamaged tissue was dominated by chlorophyll fluorescence. We further characterized the optimum emission and excitation spectra to distinguish between stink bug damaged bolls from undamaged bolls.The observed characteristic fluorescence peaks associated with stink bug damage give rise to a fluorescence-based method to rapidly distinguish between undamaged and stink bug damaged cotton bolls. Based on the fluorescent fingerprint, we envision a fluorescence reflectance imaging or a fluorescence ratiometric device to assist pest management professionals with rapidly determining the extent of stink bug damage in a cotton field.Phytophagous stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) comprise a critically important insect pest complex affecting worldwide food and fiber production. This group of closely related genera has a wide host range that includes fruit, vegetable, nut, fiber, and cereals in addition to numerous wild hosts [1]. Preferential feeding sites are confined to the fruiting structures [2,3], but some species feed on vegetative plant parts when fruiting structures are not available. Stink bugs have piercing/sucking mouthparts, and generalized feeding symptoms include abortion of young fruits, a predisposition to colonization by decay organisms, and cosmetic deformities. In southeastern US cotton production, feeding by stink bugs causes boll abscission, lint staining, reduced lint quality, and reduced yields [4-8]. More recent work has shown that the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula (L.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is a competent vector of bacterial pathogens that causes seed and lint necrosis [9]. Stink bug damage to the 2007 southeastern