Historically, green mirids are common pests of seedling cotton but not during fruit set and green vegetable bugs(GVB) are rarely a problem. This is because broad-spectrum pesticides applied against Helicoverpa larvae usually control mirids and GVB through the rind- and late season. With the introduction of Bt-cotton however, the number of Helicoverpa sprays used has declined allowing green mirids and GVB to build to potentially damaging levels in some instances. Spraying for Helicoverpa is expected to drop even further with two-gene cotton (Bollgard II), raising the concern that sucking pests may become a significant problem during the fruiting period. The effect on yield and fibre quality by the increased feeding of mirids and GVB on bolls not well understood. In one of the few studies to date, Khan and Bauer (2001) found that damage to young bolls(<10 days old) often causes shedding. Damage to older bolls (10-20 days old) usually does not cause shedding but the damaged locules may not develop properly. This has implications for the capacity of the crop to compensate for damage by producing more bolls, making undamaged bolls larger or making undamaged locules in damaged bons larger.