The citrus spiny whitefly Aleurocanthus spiniferus (Quaintance) is a pest of citrus plants that is native to South-East Asia. Although serious outbreaks of the tea-infesting whitefly in China, Taiwan and Japan have been attributed to this species over the last 20 years, recent research has shown different host preferences between the two whiteflies. Hence, the two pests have tentatively been di...

susceptibility of eggs, nymphs and adults of greenhouse whitefly (trialeurodes vaporariorum westwood) and adults of green peach aphid (myzus persicae sulzer) to pirimicarb (pirimor®) and citowett oil alone vs. in combination was evaluated under greenhouse conditions. the glass vial and leaf dipping methods were employed for bioassay of adults vs. the immature stages (egg, nymph and pupa) of gre...

The impact of whitefly-transmitted begomoviruses (Geminiviridae) on tomato yields depends on plant age at time of infection, and is greatest during the first 5 weeks after germination (critical period). A preventative strategy designed to minimize contact between the vector and the tomato plant by masking the crop with living ground covers during the critical period was promoted among small-sca...

Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) full-length DNA was amplified by PCR and cloned into a bacterial plasmid. The cloned TYLCV DNA was excised from the plasmid, ligated and the resulting monomeric circular double-stranded TYLCV DNA was used to inoculate tomato (Solanum lycopersicom) and datura (Datura stramonium) plants by particle bombardment. The bombarded plants produced typical disease sy...

The silverleaf whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) biotype B has become a serious problem for soybean cultivation because it can significantly reduce soybean productivity. The use of soybean cultivars resistant to whitefly attack is an important strategy in an integrated pest management (IPM) program. This study evaluated the preference for oviposition and colonization by B. tabaci biotype B on dif...

The developmental progress of silverleaf whitefly (Bemisia argentifolii) 3rd instars and 4th instar/pharate adults was monitored using a tracking system that had been designed to identify synchronous individuals in another species of whitefly, the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum. When reared on greenbean under conditions of LD 16:8 and a temperature of 26 +/- 2 degrees C, the bod...

After 2007, upsurges of whiteflies on cassava plants and high incidences of cassava diseases were observed in Central African Republic. This recent upsurge in the abundance of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) was directly linked to serious damage to cassava crops resulting from spread of whitefly-borne cassava mosaic geminiviruses (CMGs). There is currently very little inform...

The capsid protein (CP) of the monopartite begomovirus Tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus (TYLCSV), family Geminiviridae, is indispensable for plant infection and vector transmission. A region between amino acids 129 and 152 is critical for virion assembly and insect transmissibility. Two previously described mutants, one with a double Q129P Q134H mutation (PNHD) and another with a further ...

Theory predicts that intraguild consumers such as predators or parasitoids may displace more specialized heterospecific competitors and thereby actually increase the population densities of a shared host or prey. We tested this idea with a native primary parasitoid, Eretmocerus eremicus, and an exotic autoparasitoid Encarsia sophia, both attacking the sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci. Autopa...

Begomoviruses are exclusively transmitted by whiteflies in a persistent circulative manner and cause considerable economic losses to crop production worldwide. Previous studies have shown that begomoviruses accumulate in vesicle-like structures in whitefly midgut cells and that clathrin-mediated endocytosis is responsible for their internalization. However, the process by which begomoviruses ar...