Though the bug sucks cell sap from leaves, flowers and growing soft
tissues of upper stem, the main damage is when they get crushed at the time of
ginning, thus staining the lint and decreasing the market value of the cotton.
The bugs suck the sap in groups from the immature seed which consequently do
not ripen and remain light weight. The bugs also cause nuisance to workers
during picking.
The adults are about half the size of a fingernail and are dark brown
in colour. The winged adults have dirty white semi-transparent wings and the
young are round. The eggs, laid on the lint of half opened bolls of cotton, are
white and cigar shaped. They are laid in clusters of 3-18.