Parabemisia myricae
Common name: bayberry whitefly
The nymphs are surrounded by a marginal fringe of clear wax. The adult is a small whitish-yellow moth-like insect that flits about when disturbed. The adults have a strong ovipositional preference for very young foliage in the "feather" stage. The adult will frequently place eggs along the leaf margin. At first the eggs are white, but turn black in a few days.
Bayberry whitefly was first discovered in the U.S. by California agriculture officials in 1978, and in Florida by agriculture officials in early 1984. Early dense populations caused defoliation in California citrus (M. Rose, pers. comm.), but this has not happened in Florida. The early finds in Florida were under natural biological control by hymenopterous parasites, including Eretmocerus sp. Apparently, the parasites were introduced with the whitefly. According to Mike Rose (pers. comm.) the Eretmocerus species present in Florida is the same as that found in California.
It was not until 1989 that any population in Florida was large enough to cause damage. This occurred in a nursery/greenhouse in Clewiston, Florida, on small citrus seedlings. A chemical control program was being carried out which eliminated the Eretmocerus sp., but not the bayberry whitefly. Outdoors this whitefly is under biological control in Florida, and is only a problem in situations where natural balances are disturbed by the use of chemical controls.
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Created: May 2001 | Updated: March 2006
