Whiteflies management

Abstract

“Whiteflies” is the common name of an insect group (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) which has around 1556 described species (Martin & Mound, 2007), although only about thirty species have been mentioned in Spain which are included in the table 1 (Martin et al., 2000). The origin of this group of insects is very varied, as its current spread. But, in general, these are organisms from hot climates: more than 724 species have been described in tropical areas, and only 420 species in warm areas (BinkMoenen & Mound, 1990). In general, there are two types of damage caused by whiteflies: direct and indirect. The first is caused by the insects feeding on the plant, adults as well as nymphal stages (immature), causing the sap-sucking that leads to weakening and reduction of plant yield, and also inducing very different physiological disorders on plants. The indirect damages are referred to as all the problems derived from the production of honeydew by the insect immatures, and especially, the capacity of the adults of some species to transmit very different vegetal viruses, that can lead to the continuity of the crop being put at risk in a specific area.