What is a whitefly? Types of insects, their harm and methods of elimination

Whitefly is one of the most dangerous insect pests. It is a quarantine facility in many countries of the world.

Due to the warming of the general climate, it has significantly expanded its habitat to the northwestern regions of Russia.

Consider what it is on the insect, its habitat, what it deserves this status, as well as the accepted methods of struggle. The article presents photos of whiteflies and a description of different types of pests.

What is this pest?

Aleirodides, or whiteflies in the people, are a whole family of insects. They are small in size up to 2 millimeters. They got their name for the color of their whitish wings, color. According to scientific data, the number of species of whiteflies reaches 1550 species. Moreover, in the region of Central Asia, the number of species reaches 20. It is dangerous because it is a pest at all stages of life from a larva to an adult.

How is an insect dangerous to plants?

An adult whitefly sucks the juice from plants by piercing their stems with its proboscis, like a mosquito. It also weakens the plant, and when severely damaged, dries them. Larvae also feed on plant juices.

In addition, whitefly is a carrier of a huge number of dangerous phytoviruses with symptoms such as:

• yellow mosaics;
• curly leaf;
• chloroses and others.

It affects a huge range of plants of various species:

• vegetable;
• melons;
• decorative (orchids, balsamine, geranium, begonia, fuchsia and others).

Also, the waste of the pest is indirectly causing the greatest harm to plants, since soot fungi (black) multiply and develop in them. As a result of the defeat, the plants become covered in the beginning with white, and then black spots, due to which the process of photosynthesis is disrupted (this is how the pores of plants are clogged with black). They begin to languish, lag behind in growth, and in advanced cases die.

Attention. It doesn’t matter where the plants are located in the garden (greenhouse) or in the apartment on the windowsill, this parasite is almost omnivorous and can start everywhere where the heat is combined with high humidity.

Types, their features and photos

Next, you can learn about the most common species of this insect and see how the whitefly looks on the photo, affecting indoor and garden plants.

Of all 1550 species of these insects in the latitudes of Russia and the CIS countries, the following species are most often found:

Greenhouse (greenhouse)

It is a tropical species, distributed indoors at any time of the year. In nature, does not tolerate winter. The size of an adult is 1-1.5 mm. The body is yellow, it hides white (there is no lumen of the abdomen between them). He likes to eat both greenhouse (tomatoes, cucumbers, tobacco) and indoor plants. One generation of greenhouse whiteflies lives 30-40 days.

Read more about the greenhouse whitefly in this useful video:

Tobacco (cotton, silver)

It looks very similar to the greenhouse whitefly. The length of an adult (adult) varies between 1 - 1.5 mm, the body is yellow, the wings are white without spots. The wings of the tobacco, in contrast to the greenhouse whiteflies, are located at a slight angle.

He prefers to eat gourds, vegetables, flowers, industrial and medicinal plants. Also found in berry, citrus, ornamental and even woody plants in the forest. For the summer season, she gives from 8 to 15 generations.

We offer you to watch a useful video about tobacco whitefly:

Citrus fruit

The main pest of citrus crops, but not limited to them. It also parasitizes on plants such as:

• gardenia;
• ash;
• lilac;
• jasmine;
• honeysuckle and others.

The main difference from other species: the presence on the back of a sign similar to the letter "Y".

Cabbage

Prefers to parasitize on cabbage and other vegetable crops. The body of an adult insect is lemon yellow. It has a dark pattern on the chest, abdomen, head and two dark spots on each wing. Dimensions are the same as other members of the family.

Strawberry

Appearance is virtually identical to the greenhouse whitefly. Yellow strawberry white-winged eggs can easily tolerate winter being in the stems and young tubers of herbaceous plants. The main pest of strawberries and other berry crops.

The first two species are the most dangerous quarantine pests. So from viruses carried by tobacco whiteflies, without action, up to 80 percent of the crop can die.

Habitat

Whiteflies are insects that love a hot and humid climate. In nature, they live mainly in the tropics and subtropics. In artificial conditions, greenhouses, greenhouses, and apartments, they began to be found almost everywhere. Russia has registered about 20-30 species of these insects, mainly in the southern latitudes of the country.

Life cycle

In its development, all types of whiteflies go through four stages:

1. Egg - the shape is elongated, pear-shaped, sometimes oval. Color varies from pale yellow to golden. It depends on the stage of development of the egg. The length is about 0.2 mm. At a temperature in the region of + 30 ° C, development takes 9 days.
2. 1st instar larva - she is called a slider or a tramp due to the fact that in the first hours of her life she actively moves along the underside of plant leaves in search of food. Having found a suitable place for food, she attaches to the plant and begins to drink its juice. And it remains in this place until the pularia stage. During this time, she sheds three times, and also loses her legs.

   The first three larval stages take from 2 to 4 days each. The duration of development depends on temperature and humidity.

3. 4th instar larva (pularia) - the duration of the stage is approximately 6 days. The larva becomes more convex in shape, and rather long setae appear on its upper part. At the same time, the pularia is covered with a dense wax coating, which protects it from the effects of pesticides. At this stage, the larva is finally transformed into an adult insect.
4. Adult (adult) - having developed, the adults go out through the T-shaped gap on the back of the puparia, spread their wings, cover themselves with wax secretion from the glands on their abdomen and begin to eat plants. An adult lives for about a month.

reference. At a temperature of +26 ° C, the duration of development from an egg to an adult lasts about 18.6 days on cucumbers, 29.8 days on flax, tomatoes, carrots.

The whitefly wintering in the puparium stage in the soil, on fallen leaves, overwintering in the adult stage is also possible. From 8 to 15 generations, numbering in thousands of individuals, can develop per season. Here's what the whitefly larva looks like in the photo:

At what temperature does it die?

Critical for whitefly is a temperature below 10 degrees. Under such conditions, an adult insect dies if it does not find shelter from a low temperature buried under fallen leaves or ground.

Whitefly eggs can withstand even frost. As a preventive measure, it is necessary to regularly loosen the earth getting rid of stale plant debris.

What does it come from?

Whitefly, like other types of insects, appears where there are favorable conditions for it. Since she prefers humidity and high temperatures, she appears on open landings in the summer during the rainy season.

In a greenhouse, a whitefly favors:

• poor ventilation
• excessive watering;
• strong landing density.

In the apartment, this pest appears mainly with contaminated soil and new unverified plants.

Important. To avoid whitefly infection, each new plant must be kept separate from the rest in quarantine for several weeks. Soil needs to be bought from trusted suppliers, as it may also contain pest eggs.

How to detect?

At the very beginning of the infection of a greenhouse or indoor flowers, it is difficult to notice it. This is due to the fact that when it is small, the prone is on the back of the leaves. Symptoms of infection become visible when the whitefly population increases.

These insects hide on the bottom of the leaves, where they lay their eggs. On the leaves below you can find the waste of the pest - pad. The mouth looks like a brilliant whitish coating. Insects can fly in swarm if disturbed plants are highly disturbed.

How to get rid?

The following basic methods for controlling whiteflies are available.:

1. Biological method - consists in the whitefly flying, such as Enkarsia or the Macrolofus bug, onto the infected area of ​​natural enemies. You can buy them at special companies.
2. Chemical method - involves the use of insecticide poisons such as Actellic, Verticillin Zh, Confidor, Mospilan, Fosbetsid and others. The use of insect fumigators has also proven to be good.
3. Mechanical method and folk remedies - various glue traps and plates of bright color, soap and garlic solutions. These methods can only help if there are not too many pests.

When using insecticides, it is extremely important to read the instructions for use and observe precautions, since many of them are dangerous for animals and humans.

From the foregoing, we can conclude that whitefly is a very dangerous pest. Therefore, it is worthwhile to carefully monitor the conditions of plant growth and observe quarantine measures. Preventing infection is easier than fighting it.

Watch the video: PEST CONTROL: 5 Easy Ways to Control Aphids Whiteflies Mealybugs Spider mites (May 2024).