The sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is one of the most invasive pest species worldwide. Q and B biotypes are the two most devastating species within the B. tabaci complex. Bemisia tabaci can vector hundreds of plant viruses that seriously threaten crop production. Endoparasitoid, Encarsia formosa Gahan, is widely used to control whiteflies, however, little is known about the eff...

The Featured Creatures collection provides in-depth profiles of insects, nematodes, arachnids and other organisms relevant to Florida. These are intended for the use interested laypersons with some knowledge biology as well academic audiences.

The control of whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) biotype B (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) on okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) consists primarily in the use of insecticides, due to the lack of information on other mortality factors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the spatial and temporal population dynamics of the whitefly B. tabaci biotype B on two successive A. esculentus var. “Santa ...

Insect parasitoids lay their eggs in arthropods. Some parasitoid species not only use their arthropod host for oviposition but also for feeding. Host feeding provides nutrients to the adult female parasitoid. However, in many species, host feeding destroys an opportunity to oviposit. For parasitoids that attack Homoptera, honeydew is a nutrient-rich alternative that can be directly imbibed from...

In this study, we investigated the tritrophic interactions among a persistently transmitted plant virus, Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), its insect vector, the sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci, and a parasitoid, Encarsia formosa Gahan, one of the most extensively used biological control agents. As an emerging invasive pest worldwide, the two most damaging whiteflies are B. tabaci B an...