The sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), is one of the most important pests in vegetables. Although the host plant Solanum melongena, is considered the most preferred, the whiteflies have preferences for particular varieties of eggplant. In this study, we evaluated three eggplant varieties in choice feeding tests. We found that the varieties of Zomorrod and Barcelona were the most preferred with the highest numbers of whitefly nymphs, which were 312 and 300 per leaf, respectively, on the last week of May. In comparison, the nymph average was 171.8 per leaf on the last week of May on the kareema. Chlorophyll concentration has been negatively affected by the infestation of B. tabaci. The investigation of the chlorophyll content ratio between the uninfested and infested eggplant leaves showed a decrease in chlorophyll content at 13.95 and 6.60 11 mg/L of the Zumorrod variety for the uninfested and infested leaves, respectively, with 52.67% chlorophyll reduction. At the same time, the mean chlorophyll content for uninfested and infested eggplant leaves of the Barcelona variety was 12.74 and 4.95 mg/L, respectively, with 61.14% chlorophyll reduction. At the same time, the Kareema variety was recorded at 17.49 and 4.95 mg/L for the uninfested and infested leaves, respectively, with 72.39% chlorophyll reduction. Furthermore, feeding by B. tabaci reduced leaf photosynthesis in eggplant by restricting gas exchange through stomata and reducing chlorophyll's content and photosynthetic capacity. Keywords: population density; piercing pest; Bemisia tabaci; Solanum melongena; host preference; plant pigments

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is considered one of the most destructive insect pests that can attack several vegetable crops worldwide. The behavior of choosing a host plant by whitefly can be significantly influenced by volatile organic compounds. The aim of this investigation is to identify and bioassay the volatile organic compounds emitted from uninfested and infested eggplant leaves with B. tabaci. The current study focuses on the interaction between whitefly and eggplant with the identification of volatile organic compounds emitted from leaves that were collected by headspace solid phase microextraction fiber and gas chromatography mass spectrum analyzed. Both uninfested and infested eggplant leaves released a total of 11 compounds. The amount of volatile organic compounds emitted from affected eggplant leaves by whitefly was higher than from uninfested eggplant leaves. Using a Y-shaped olfactometer bioassay, whitefly preferred to attract toward volatile emitted by eggplant leaves in both uninfested and infested eggplant leaves. Our results suggest these chemical compounds can play a key mediator in host finding behavior. The exploitation of one or more of these compounds can apply in an integrated management program of this pest as a lure in the sticky trap or manipulating insect behavior.