Conservation biological control can be an effective tactic for minimizing insect-induced damage to agricultural production. In the Arizona cotton system, a suite of generalist arthropod predators provides critical regulation of Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (MEAM1) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) and other pests. Arthropod predator and B. tabaci populations were manipulated with a range of broad-spectrum a...

Bemisia tabaci (whitefly) infestations and the subsequent transfer of viruses are the cause of severe losses in crop production and horticultural practice. To improve biological control of B. tabaci, we investigated repellent properties of plant-produced semiochemicals. The mix of headspace volatiles, collected from naturally repellent wild tomato accessions, influenced B. tabaci initial choice...

Bemisia tabaci has developed a high level of resistance to thiamethoxam, a second generation neonicotinoid insecticide that has been widely used to control this pest. In this study, we investigated whether hydroxyacid-oxoacid transhydrogenase (HOT) is involved in resistance to the neonicotinoid insecticide thiamethoxam in the whitefly. We cloned the full-length gene that encodes HOT in B. tabac...

Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) was first detected in China in 2006, following the introduction of Bemisia tabaci Q into China in 2003. Since then, the incidence of TYLCV in tomato fields in China has greatly increased as has the abundance and distribution of Q whiteflies containing the bacterial symbiont Hamiltonella with high frequency. This suggested that the symbiont Hamiltonella migh...

Bemisia tabaci is one of the most devastating pests in tomato greenhouse production. Insecticide resistance management for B. tabaci requires a novel approach that maximizes non-chemical methods for pest control. The aim of this study was to test the effects of rootstocks on B. tabaci populations in hydroponically grown tomato plants. In order to contribute to the better understanding of the me...

Amitu8 bennetti Viggiani & Evans is a recently discovered parasitoid of whiteflies in the genus Bemisia, including the serious pests Bemisa tabaci (Gennadius) and Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & PelTing. The reproductive biology and the host searching behavior of A. bennetti was studied in the laboratory, using B, a'rgentifolii as a host. The developmental time for A. bennetti from egg to adult ...

Evidence for the involvement of a Bemisia tabaci GroEL homologue in the transmission of tomato yellow leaf curl geminivirus (TYLCV) is presented. A approximately 63-kDa protein was identified in B. tabaci whole-body extracts using an antiserum raised against aphid Buchnera GroEL. The GroEL homologue was immunolocalized to a coccoid-shaped whitefly endosymbiont. The 30 N-terminal amino acids of ...

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is a major cosmopolitan pest capable of feeding on hundreds of plant species and transmits several major plant viruses. The most important and widespread viruses vectored by B. tabaci are in the genus Begomovirus, an unusual group of plant viruses owing to their small, single-stranded DNA genome and geminate particle morphology. B. tabaci transmits begomo...

The sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) was challenged with different combinations of matrine (insecticide) and Lecanicillium muscarium (entomopathogenic fungus). Our results revealed a synergistic relationship between matrine and L. muscarium on mortality and enzyme activities of B. tabaci. To illustrate the biochemical mechanisms involved in detoxification and immune responses of ...