Silverleaf whitefly

Silverleaf whitefly
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Sternorrhyncha
Family: Aleyrodidae
Genus: Bemisia
Species:
B. tabaci
Binomial name
Bemisia tabaci
(Gennadius, 1889)
Synonyms[1]

Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & Perring

The silverleaf whitefly (Bemisia tabaci, also informally referred to as the sweet potato whitefly) is one of several species of whitefly that are currently important agricultural pests.[1] A review in 2011 concluded that the silverleaf whitefly is actually a species complex containing at least 40 morphologically indistinguishable species.[2]

The silverleaf whitefly thrives worldwide in tropical, subtropical, and less predominately in temperate habitats. Cold temperatures kill both the adults and the nymphs of the species.[3] The silverleaf whitefly can be confused with other insects such as the common fruitfly, but with close inspection, the whitefly is slightly smaller and has a distinct wing color that helps to differentiate it from other insects.

While the silverleaf whitefly had been known in the United States since 1896, in the mid-1980s an aggressive strain appeared in poinsettia crops in Florida. For convenience that strain was referred to as strain B (biotype B), to distinguish it from the milder infestation of the earlier known strain A. Less than a year after its identification, strain B was found to have moved to tomatoes, and other fruit and vegetable crops. Within five years, the silverleaf whitefly had caused over $100 million in damage to agriculture in Texas and in California.[1]

  1. ^ a b c Fan, Yuqing Fan & Petitt, Frederick (1998). "Dispersal of the broad mite, Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Acari: Tarsonemidae) on Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae)". Experimental and Applied Acarology. 22 (7): 411–415. doi:10.1023/A:1006045911286. S2CID 20767783.
  2. ^ Tang, Xiao-Tian; Cai, Li; Yuan, Shin; Xu, Li–Li; Du, Yu–Zhou (2019). "Competitive Displacement between Bemisia tabaci MEAM1 and MED and Evidence for Multiple Invasions of MED". Insects. 11 (1): 1–12. doi:10.3390/insects11010035. PMC 7022974. PMID 31906186.
  3. ^ Greenberg, S. M.; Legaspi, B. C.; Jones, W. A.; Enkegaard, A. (2000). "Temperature-Dependent Life History of Eretmocerus eremicus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) on Two Whitefly Hosts (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae)". Environmental Entomology. 29 (4): 851–860. doi:10.1603/0046-225X-29.4.851. S2CID 85854037.