This is fortunate, because treatment options are limited and costly. Slugs, which resemble snails without shells, are much less common in Mississippi fields. Again this is fortunate because high numbers of slugs are capable of causing severe damage to seedling plants. Slugs are considered a serious pest of seedling soybeans in some northern states. So far however, we have only observed one field of cotton that sustained significant injury from slugs, and this was several years ago.
Slugs are more difficult to detect than snails.
Because they have no shell, they are more subject to desiccation and tend to hide under crop debris and in cracks in the soil. If you encounter fields with high populations of either of these pests, we would be interested in hearing from you, especially if you feel that they are causing significant damage. The last three cotton insect scout schools will be held this week. Dates and locations are shown below. Pre-registration is not required, but individuals who will be traveling some distance to attend are advised to call the host location or the Department of Entomology and verify that the meeting has not been rescheduled.