Population dynamics and pest status of silverleaf whitefly in the USA

Abstract EN

Bemisia has become a major insect pest of a wide range of warm-climate crops in many parts of the world.

The ability to adapt to new hosts, wide host range, high fecundity rate, and ability to develop resistance to insecticides make this insect very difficult to manage.

In some areas of the world Bemisia outbreaks are a natural consequence of increased cropping intensity and increase agricultural use of insecticides.

The population dynamics of this pest are affected by multiple crop interactions.

The host range of Bemisia includes many significant agricultural crops such as cotton, melons, tomatoes, cole crops, and many other ornamental and native plant species.

Damage occurs in a variety of ways.

Feeding whiteflies extract from the plant important nutrients, causing defoliation, stunting and poor plant yields.

A sticky honeydew excreted by Bemisia renders cotton lint difficult to process.

Bemisia causes several plant physiological disorders, such as tomato irregular ripening, squash silverleaf and light stalk in broccoli.

The most economically significant of the whitefly transmitted viruses are the geminiviruses.

Some of these viruses include tomato yellow leaf curl, the most severe disease of tomato in the Middle East, bean golden mosaic in Central and South America, and African cassava mosaic in Africa.

Geminiviruses have already been identified damaging tomato, pepper and squash in the Southern United States.

Research has shown that melons provides the best host for Bemisia.

followed by cotton, cole crops, alfalfa and tomatoes.

Parasitism rates on Bemisia varies dramatically from one susceptible crop to another.

High levels of resistance to both organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides were documented in Bemisia population in the United States and elsewhere in the world.