Bemisia tabaci Gennadius
Bemisia argentifolii Bellows and Perring
Common name: sweetpotato whitefly
Common name: silverleaf whitefly
These two species can scarcely be separated on morphological characters in the laboratory and it is assumed the silverleaf has replaced the sweetpotato whitefly in Florida.
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Diagnosis: Pupal case oval, light yellow becoming darker as insect inside matures. The empty pupal case is colorless. On each side of young pupae is an orange spot that disappears as the insect matures. There is no lateral fringe of wax around the pupal case, except at the spiracular furrows. The eggs are brownish and have a smooth surface.
The adult is bright yellow, but the abdomen lighter and the abdomen has a reddish-orange spot. The eyes are dark red and undivided, but are somewhat constricted above the middle.
Comments: This whitefly has many synonyms because the structure of the pupal case is dependent upon the physical characteristics of the host leaves (Mound 1963). It is a well known vector of virus diseases on crop plants in the tropics (Mound 1973). It is not known from citrus in Florida, but is reported on citrus in Texas and other countries.
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Created: May 2001 | Updated: March 2006
