Insect Pests of Fruit, Plantation, Medicinal & Aromatic Crops (2+1)

3. Whitefly - Dialeurodes citri Ashmead. ( Aleyrodidae : Hemiptera ) Black fly Aleurocanthus woglami

Damage

• The nymphs and adults desap the leaves and young shoots.
• The nymphs excrete honey dew in large quantities which attracts the black fungus causing sooty mould development on the leaf surface.
• The infested plants are stunned, and produce few blossoms.
Bionomics

• The adult is small measuring 1.02 -1.52 mm in length.
• The female lays oval, pale yellowish eggs singly on the lower surface of the young leaves.
• It lays up to 200 eggs in her life span. The eggs hatch in 10-20 days.
• The larva crawls about for a few hours and then inserts its proboscis into the succulent portion of the twigs.
• It pupates on the surface of leaves.
• The nymphal period is 25-71 days.
• The pupal period last for 114-159 days.
• There are two generations in a year.
Management

• Collect and destroy damaged leaves, flowers and fruits along with life stages.
• Spray methyl demeton 25 EC 2 ml/1 or monocrotophos 36 WSC 1ml/1.
• Use yellow sticky traps at 15/ha.
• Spray quinolphos 25 EC at 2 mil litre of water or monocrotophos 36 WSC 2.5 mil litre of water.