Pacific Pests, Pathogens and Weeds - Online edition

Pacific Pests, Pathogens & Weeds

Capsicum Aleurotrachelus whitefly (168)

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Photo 1. Adult Aleurotrachelus whitefly. Note the curly strands of wax.

Photo 2. Adult Aleurotrachelus whitefly and the circular egg mass characteristic of this insect. 

Photo 3. Larvae of the Aleurotrachelus whitefly at an early stage.

Summary

  • Widespread distribution. South and Central America, Africa, Caribbean, Oceania. On plants in potato, brassica and cucurbit families. An important pest of capsicum and kava.
  • Eggs laid in circles, nymphs are 'crawlers' at first then settle becoming oval, black, covered by curly strands of wax; adults, 2-3 mm, look like spiralling whiteflies. They produce 'honeydew' excretion.
  • Sucks plant sap; sooty moulds grow on honeydew.
  • Natural enemies: a minute wasp, Encarsia formosia, is widely used to control this whitefly.
  • Chemical control: soap, white or horticultural oils; note that most synthetic insecticides will kill natural enemies.

Common Name

Aleurotrachelus or Solanum whitefly

Scientific Name

Aleurotrachelus trachoides

Photo 4. Late stage larvae of Aleurotrachelus whitefly which are now black.

Photo 5. The late stage of the larvae are black. In this photograph an orange ring of the fungus Aschersonia aleyrodis is present.

Photo 6. Fungus, probably Aschersonia sp. growing on pupae of the whitefly, Aleurotrachelus trichoides. As it produces spores so it becomes orange.

Photo 7. Complete colonisation of the pupae of Aleurotrachelus trichoides on the underside of a kava leaf by the fungus, Aschersonia sp.

Photo 8. Magnified pupae of Aleurotrachelus trichoides showing that the fungus, Aschersonia sp., has formed a crust over them.

AUTHOR Grahame Jackson
Information from Kumar TR et al. (2016) Aleurotrachelus trachoides Back. Featured Creatures, Entomology & Nematology. UF/IFAS, University of Florida. (http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/Aleurotrachelus_trachoides.htm); CABI (2019). Aleurotrachelus trachoides. Crop Protection Compendium. (https://www.cabi.org/cpc/datasheet/4410). Photos 1-8 Konrad Engelberger, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia.

Produced with support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research under project PC/2010/090: Strengthening integrated crop management research in the Pacific Islands in support of sustainable intensification of high-value crop production, implemented by the University of Queensland and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

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