Neozygites fresenii (Entomophthorales: Neozygitaceae) Prevalence in Aphis gossypii (Homoptera: Aphididae) in Three South Central Georgia Cotton Fields

The presence of cotton aphids, Aphis gossypii Glover, and the incidence of its fungal pathogen, Neozygites fresenii (Nowakowski) Batko, were monitored with pan traps, plant sampling, and sticky traps in three south central Georgia cotton fields in the early part of the 2002 growing season. Aphids were trapped in low numbers ( 60/trap/sampling date. A similar increase was observed in field 3 after 21 June. Differences observed in the three fields were attributed to differences in planting date. Aphids in sticky traps were counted but not examined for pathogenic fungi. Aphids were detected in pan traps as early as 4 May, but all were negative for N. fresenii until 10 June, after which the mean incidence of the fungus increased rapidly to a peak of >60% by 27 June. The aphid population as determined by plant sampling increased logarithmically between 3 June and 8 July, whereas the increase in incidence of N. fresen...