Development, longevity and fecundity of Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) (Hom., Aleyrodidae) on different host plants at two temperatures

Al-Zyoud, F. and C. Sengonca.

Mitt. Dtsch. Ges. allg. angew. Ent., 14: 375-378, 2004

Abstract: The cotton whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) (Hom., Aleyrodidae), formerly being confined to tropical and subtropical regions of the world, has since the late 1980’s become increasingly important as a pest of greenhouse crops in temperate regions world-wide. Therefore, the present work aimed to study possible influence of host plant species and temperature on B. tabaci development, longevity and fecundity under controlled laboratory conditions. All the laboratory experiments were carried out under controlled climatic conditions of 18±1°C and 30±1°C temperatures, 60±10% RH as well as 16:8h (L:D) photoperiod on cucumber, cv. “Tanja”; tomato, cv. “Roma”; sweet pepper, cv. “Yolo Wonder”; tobacco, cv. “Xanthi” and cotton, cv. “Caroline Queen” plants/leaves. The results showed that there were four immature instars of B. tabaci on all the host plants at the two temperatures. There were some significant differences in the mean biological parameters within the same stage and temperature among the different plants. Mean total number of laid eggs/♀ was significantly higher at 30°C than 18°C on all the host plants.

Keywords: Bemisia tabaci, development, longevity, fecundity, host plant, temperature