Abstract

The B biotype whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is an invasive species in China, witch severely damage the production of numerous crops through direct feeding and transmission of plant viruses. In order to clarify the major biological characteristics of a whitefly as an alien invasive species, reveal the seasonal growth and decline of its population quantity, the law of fluctuation from year to year and it’s influencing factors and improves the monitoring, prevention and control level. Our study investigates the main biological characteristics and the population quantity’s fluctuation of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci in Linhai, Zhejiang province, China. Adult whiteflies were investigated in the greenhouse and field from 2006 to 2011 with using yellow sticky boards. The results show that the whiteflies can produce 11 generations each year with an evident generation overlapping. The number of whiteflies in the greenhouse started to increase from June, with a significant increase after July and then reached its peak during August and September. With the temperature drop, the whitefly population started to decrease after mid-October. The observation of the insects indicated that whiteflies are capable of surviving within the whole year under the greenhouse condition. On the other hand, the overwintering frequency for the whitefly in the open field was approximately 20%. Moreover, the main factors that affect the population dynamics of whiteflies in the field include the initial population number, climate condition, farming system and flood inundation, among which, the temperature condition is the most important.

Keywords:

Bemisia tabaci, biological characteristic, fluctuation law, influencing factors, population dynamics, whitefly,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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Copyright

The authors have no competing interests.