Biology and morphology of life stages of three species of whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) from India

Economic injury levels and sequential sampling plans for control decision‐making systems of Bemisia tabaci biotype B adults in watermelon crops

“…This effect may be related to the longer period until harvest for plants at the vegetative stage compared with plants at the reproductive stage. In other words, plants at the vegetative stage can be exposed to direct and indirect damage by whiteflies for longer and, therefore, suffer greater losses . These facts indicate that watermelon plants at the vegetative stage may require more frequent whitefly control than plants at the reproductive stage.…”

“…The damage caused by whiteflies to plants might be due to sap sucking, injection of toxins into plants, the vectoring of viruses that cause disease, and the formation of sooty mold on its sugary excretions. [16][17][18] Also, whiteflies feeding on plants can reduce fruit sugar content, which may compromise the market value. 29 However, this reduction in sugar does not affect fruit prices in the region where this study was conducted.…”

“…In other words, plants at the vegetative stage can be exposed to direct and indirect damage by whiteflies for longer and, therefore, suffer greater losses. [16][17][18] These facts indicate that watermelon plants at the vegetative stage may require more frequent whitefly control than plants at the reproductive stage.…”

“…biotype B (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) has > 700 host plants, and is among the main pests of watermelon crops . It occurs on all continents, where it damages plants by sap sucking, injecting toxins, being a vector of viruses, and causing the formation of dark layers on plants due to the development of ascomycete fungi (sooty mold) on their sugary excretions …”

“…15 It occurs on all continents, where it damages plants by sap sucking, injecting toxins, being a vector of viruses, and causing the formation of dark layers on plants due to the development of ascomycete fungi (sooty mold) on their sugary excretions. 8,[16][17][18] Despite the importance of decision-making systems for pest control and of B. tabaci biotype B as a pest of watermelon crops, there are no studies regarding the EILs and sequential sampling plans for B. tabaci biotype B in watermelon plantations. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine a decision-making system to control the whitefly B. tabaci biotype B on commercial watermelon crops.…”