General Information

COMMON NAMES: Silverleaf Whitefly, Sweetpotato Whitefly 'B biotype', Poinsettia Whitefly, Cassava Whitefly, Sweetpotato Whitefly GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Middle East (for B biotype); EXOTIC EXOTIC s.Europe, Africa, India, Australia, Pacific islands, USA COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; S.Group; ?; Land, horticultural SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Pest KEY FEATURES: ADULT: ~0.9mm snout-to-tail; body yellow; wings yellowish-white on hatching and later irridescent white; wings held tent-like tightly against the body, giving a cylindrical appearance; forewing with one unbranched longitudinal vein, bent slightly at about 2/3 of wing, no distinct ridge or trace of fork.

Cook Islands Distribution

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Southern Group: Present    Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++++	++++

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
			P?

Bemisia argentifolii (Bellows and Perring, 1994)
SYNONYMS: Bemisia tabaci B biotype; Bemisia tabaci Biotype B; Bemisia tabacci [mispelling]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Hemiptera; Sternorrhyncha; Aleyrodoidea; ALEYRODIDAE

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Pest. Comments: The common whitefly on vegetables. CSIRO reports plants affected in Australia as: Asteraceae: Gerbera jamesonii (African daisy),Helianthus annuus (sunflower) and Lactuca sativa(lettuce); Brassicaceae: various cruciferous cropsincluding the genus Brassica; Convolvulaceae:Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato); Cucurbitaceae:Cucurbita pepo (squash) and Cucumis sativus(cucumber); Euphorbiaceae: Euphorbia pulcherrima(poinsettia) and Manihot esculenta (cassava);Fabaceae: Glycine max (soybean) and Phaseolusvulgaris (kidney bean); Malvaceae: Gossypium (cotton),Solanaceae: Capsicum annuum (bell pepper), Nicotianatabacum (tobacco), Lyco-persicon esculentum (tomato), Solanum melongena (aubergine) and Solanum tuberosum (potato).

GENERAL NOTE: The Sweetpotato Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), had been recorded in the United States since the late 1800s, and it was only an occasional pest of cultivated crops. In Florida, in 1986, a new form of this insect appeared that was an extreme economic pest - attacking many crops, resistant to various insecticides, inducing growth disorders, transmitting new plant-pathogenic viruses, and causing 'silverleaf' disorder in squashes. This new biotype of Bemisia tabaci, probably from the Middle East, became known as Bemisia tabaci B biotype. It quickly moved into other states with intensive horticulture, and displaced the original Bemisia tabaci (A biotype), which is no longer be found in the United States. This B biotype is known as the Silverleaf Whitefly (SLW), because of its unique ability to cause 'silverleaf' disorder in squash, and in 1994 it was described as a new species, Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & Perring, although many scientists still prefer the name Bemisia tabaci B biotype. [G.McCormack, 3/2005, after various sources]

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: informant report, 2/2004, to G.McCormack, possibly this species - to check.

References:
Special Reference: PM79

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM05a, zD05a

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