The objective of this study was to evaluate the costs of biologically controlling infestations of silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & Perring, in New England greenhouse operations on poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima Wild, ex Koltz, using the parasitic wasp Encarsia formosa Gahan (Nile Delta strain). Partial budget analysis was used to compare costs for conventional verses biolo...

Encarsia formosa Gahan (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) is a solitary endoparasitoid that is commercially reared and released for augmentative biological control of whiteflies infesting greenhouse crops. In most areas in China, the invasive and destructive whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) biotype Q has replaced B. tabaci biotype B and has become dominant between the two. A...

Recent population dynamic theory predicts that disruption of biological control may occur when one parasitoid species’ superiority in intrinsic competition is associated with a lower ability to find and exploit hosts (i.e., ability in extrinsic competition). One might expect such a trade-off, for instance, if parasitoids with larger (and fewer) eggs are more likely to prevail in intrinsic compe...

Parasitoids of the Encarsia genus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) are important biological control agents against whiteflies. Some of the species in this genus not only parasitize their hosts, but also kill them through host feeding. The whitefly parasitoid, Encarsia formosa Gahan, was examined to determine whether the rearing host species affects its subsequent host-feeding capacity and parasitism....

The sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is one of the most invasive pest species worldwide. Q and B biotypes are the two most devastating species within the B. tabaci complex. Bemisia tabaci can vector hundreds of plant viruses that seriously threaten crop production. Endoparasitoid, Encarsia formosa Gahan, is widely used to control whiteflies, however, little is known about the eff...

Bemisia tabaci biotype B has become a major pest, causing serious losses to many agricultural crops worldwide. Chrysopa pallens is an important polyphagous predator of B. tabaci on different agricultural crops. In the present study, prey consumption by C. pallens was determined with feeding on un-parasitized and Encarsia formosa parasitized B. tabaci biotype B prey on tomato host plant at contr...

The oviposition decisions made by insect parasitoids when encountering hosts of variable quality have been the subject of extensive theoretical and experimental investigation. For parasitoids that lay their eggs inside the host, the possible outcomes of encounters with parasitized hosts have been assumed to include only oviposition (superparasitism), rejection, or in some cases feeding on host ...