ABSTRACT
The sweetpotato whitefly (SPW), Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), is at present, the most important economic whitefly species attacking cotton, vegetable, and ornamental crops in the United States. Multiple cultivated and weed host species inter- and intrahost dispersal, insecticide resistance, and underleaf habitat behavior have made the SPW particularly difficult to control. The occurrence and recognition of a new form currently considered a biotype(s) with a wider host range and different biological characteristics further complicates the problem. SPW causes reduced yields and quality in cotton and is a virus vector associated with devastating disease occurrence in a number of vegetable crops. Improved application technology to provide canopy penetration and underleaf coverage, new chemistry insecticides and existing insecticides with different modes of action for use in insecticide-resistance management systems are needed to provide emergency control methodology. Increased effort must be made to identify factors mediating SPW behavior, and influencing biological control agent efficacy for improving their effectiveness for crop management systems. A wide range of susceptible SPW infestations appears to exist within and between cultivated crops, suggesting a broad germplasm base for selection of tolerant plant types. Manipulation of cultivated crop planting sequences and cultural practices are also areas of investigation that may reveal potential for reducing SPW populations.
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