Metaleurodes cardini Back
Suggested common name: Cardin whitefly
Diagnosis: Eggs uniformly pale yellow, usually surrounded by fluffy wax secreted by the adult. Pupal case elongate oval; light greenish-brown, those parasitized dark brown. On the dorsum are 5 pair of compound pores (4 abdominal pair and 1 cephathoracic pair). Glistening white wax rods project from these dorsal compound pores.
Adults are greenish-yellow, with dusky wings, and a single dark brown spot on each wing.
Comments: M. cardini may be confused with Aleurodicus dispersus, Paraleyrodes perseae, and P. minei in the field. To the untrained eye it may appear superficially similar to Aleurothrixus flococcus, but M. cardini does not secrete a profusion of fine wax threads as does flococcus. The adult of M. cardini is distinctive among species that infest citrus in Florida because of the single dark brown spot on each wing. Microscopically M. cardini pupae can be separated from the above species by the presence of 4 pair of abdominal compound pores with reduced loculi and transverse rows of star-shaped (4-loculi) simple pores.
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Created: May 2001 | Updated: March 2006
