page_title: Cotton
section_title: Pests and weeds
hierarchical_section_title: Cotton / Pests and weeds
caption_attribution_description: Cotton Harlequin Bugs (Tectocoris diophthalmus Original description: I noticed the other day that one of the trees at work had some cute little bugs on it, so I decided to take my camera into work today. I waited until lunchtime and then went and took some snaps. I had to climb in under the branches which where about shoulder height, it wasnt until I was surrounded by branches that i discovered that the leaves where teaming with bugs, which kind of freaked me out. I didnt take a lot of photos and will try again tommorrow
context_page_description: Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. Under natural conditions, the cotton bolls will increase the dispersal of the seeds.
  The plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa, Egypt and India. The greatest diversity of wild cotton species is found in Mexico, followed by Australia and Africa. Cotton was independently domesticated in the Old and New Worlds.
  The fiber is most often spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile. The use of cotton for fabric is known to date to prehistoric times; fragments of cotton fabric dated to the fifth millennium BC have been found in the Indus Valley Civilization, as well as fabric remnants dated back to 6000 BC in Peru.
  Although cultivated since antiquity, it was the invention of the cotton gin that lowered the cost of production that led to its widespread use, and it is the most widely used natural fiber cloth in clothing today.
context_section_description: The cotton industry relies heavily on chemicals, such as fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides, although a very small number of farmers are moving toward an organic model of production. Under most definitions, organic products do not use transgenic Bt cotton which contains a bacterial gene that codes for a plant-produced protein that is toxic to a number of pests aespecially the bollworms. For most producers, Bt cotton has allowed a substantial reduction in the use of synthetic insecticides, although in the long term resistance may become problematical.
caption: Female and nymph Cotton Harlequin Bug
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