The two-spot cotton leafhopper, Amrasca biguttula (Ishida, 1913) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), is a polyphagous pest native to the Indian subcontinent, where it is a significant pest of cotton (Gossypium spp.), okra (Abelmoschus esculentus, Moench), and other crops. At adult and immature stages, they feed on leaf cell contents, causing characteristic “hopperburn” symptoms and yield losses of up to 40% in cotton in its native range. In July 2025, A. biguttula was detected for the first time during the cotton growing season in commercial and experimental fields across multiple counties in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. Identification was confirmed through morphological examination of diagnostic external features and male genitalia. Within four weeks, the pest was found in 101 counties, with injury symptoms ranging from mild chlorosis to severe necrosis and defoliation. Given the southeastern United States’ average of 979,339 hectares of cotton valued at USD 1.7–USD 2.8 billion annually, the potential for economic impact is considerable. Rapid symptom development, broad host range, and multiple generations per year underscore the need for coordinated monitoring and research to determine preliminary control measures and to identify potential alternative hosts. This report documents the first confirmed occurrence of A. biguttula in U.S. cotton and highlights its potential as an established recurring pest threat in the region.

Foliar-applied insecticide treatments may be necessary to manage thrips in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) under severe infestations or when at-planting insecticide seed treatments do not provide satisfactory protection. The most common foliar-applied insecticide is acephate. Field observations in Tennessee suggest that the performance of acephate has declined. Thus, the first objective was to perform leaf-dip bioassays to assess if tobacco thrips, Frankliniella fusca (Hinds) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), in cotton production regions have evolved resistance to foliar-applied insecticides. A second objective was to assess the performance of commonly applied foliar insecticides for managing thrips in standardized field trials in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Texas. For both objectives, several insecticides were evaluated including acephate, dicrotophos, dimethoate, lambda-cyhalothrin, imidacloprid, and spinetoram. Field trials and bioassays were completed from 2018 to 2021. Dose-response bioassays with acephate were performed on tobacco thrips field populations and a susceptible laboratory population. Bioassay results suggest that tobacco thrips have developed resistance to acephate and other organophosphate insecticides; however, this resistance seems to be most severe in Arkansas, Tennessee, and the Delta region of Mississippi. Resistance to other classes of insecticides were perhaps even more evident in these bioassays. The performance of these insecticides in field trials was variable, with tobacco thrips only showing consistent signs of resistance to lambda-cyhalothrin. However, it is evident that many populations of tobacco thrips are resistant to multiple classes of insecticides. Further research is needed to determine heritability and resistance mechanism(s).

In 2020, an evaluation of the basal level of incidence of tomato spotted wilt (TSW) in peanut was initiated in Alabama. This was done to understand the viral sequence divergence of tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) in a heavily managed system. From 2021 to 2023, 172 leaf samples were collected from peanut plants exhibiting symptoms of TSW from Brewton, Fairhope, and Headland, AL, to investigate genetic changes. Additionally, four thrips populations were collected in 2022 and 2023 from Fairhope and Headland, AL. The nucleocapsid protein of TSWV was sequenced from both leaf samples and thrips. A total of 175 nucleocapsids were sequenced, and their amino acid sequences were aligned to identify three conserved mutations compared with TSWV-MT2 (X61799.1) and seven conserved mutations when aligned against TSWV-BR-01 (D00645.1). Interestingly, only one conserved mutation was found in the thrips sequences obtained via Sanger sequencing compared with MT2, and no mutations were detected when aligned with BR-01. To identify if mutations caused a phenotype that could be measured, eight nucleocapsids carrying the three conserved mutations, in addition to unique changes, were selected for localization in Nicotiana benthamiana. The localization patterns of these proteins were grouped into three phenotypes based on the observed protein aggregation speed. Small-plot trials assessed TSWV mutations and incidence in relation to planting date, insecticide use, and cultivar. Based on these data, although management strategies are effective at keeping levels of TSWV manageable, the virus can diversify its sequence, which causes changes in the expected phenotype of the nucleocapsid. [ ] Copyright © 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .

Peanuts grown in Alabama are at risk of thrips injury and tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) infection, which could result in reduced yield and seed quality at harvest. Feeding from thrips can cause severe seedling injury and potential stand loss, but the primary concern is transmission of TSWV. To control this disease, management practices such as planting date, varietal selection, and insecticides use are utilized. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate how three planting dates of varying thrips infestation risk, three varieties of varying susceptibility to TSWV, and the use of Thimet insecticide impacts thrips injury, TSWV incidence, and yield. A field study was done in 2022 and 2023 at the Wiregrass REC in Headland, AL, where the research plots were grown near other fields of row crops such as cotton, corn, soybeans, and peanuts. Treatments included three varieties (GA-06G, GA-12Y and AU-NPL 17) planted at high (April), low (May) and mid (June) TSWV risk planting dates with and without Thimet in-furrow insecticide. Overall, planting date was the driving factor for thrips injury, TSWV incidence and yield. Peanuts planted in April tended to have higher injury and TSWV with lower yields. While it did not significantly impact TSWV incidence, peanuts treated with Thimet had significantly lower injury ratings and higher yields than those not treated, when averaged across planting dates and varieties. Based on these data, peanut growers in Alabama should focus on avoiding April planting dates to reduce their risk of TSWV infection and maintain yield potential.