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Scientific Name:
Bemisia tabaci Gennadius biotype B (CABI)
Synonym:
Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & Perring (CABI)
Common Name:
Silverleaf whitefly (SLWF), sweet potato whitefly biotype B
Native To:
Possibly India or the Middle East (Brown et al. 1995; Perring 2001)
Date of U.S. Introduction:
Bemisia tabaci was first discovered in the U.S. in 1897; a new, more aggressive strain (biotype B) was discovered in 1986, which has been proposed to be classified as a separate species B. argentifolii (Hoddle et al. 2002; Perring 2001)
Means of Introduction:
Possibly arrived with imported ornamentals (Brown et al. 1995)
Impact:
Damages crops by feeding on them and transmitting viruses (McAuslane 2015)
Distribution / Maps / Survey Status
USDA. APHIS. Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey. National Agricultural Pest Information System.
Images
University of Georgia. Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health.
Videos
Selected Resources
The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source. Or, to display all related content view all resources for Silverleaf Whitefly.
Partnership
IUCN. Species Survival Commission. Invasive Species Specialist Group.
CABI. Plantwise Knowledge Bank.
Texas State University System. Texas Invasive Species Institute.
International Government
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (United Kingdom).
See also: Pest and Disease Factsheets for more fact sheets.
New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (Australia).
Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (Australia).
State and Local Government
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Division of Plant Industry.
See also: Plant Industry Pest Alerts for more pests.
Academic
University of California. Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program.
See also: Silverleaf Whitefly on Potato and Silverleaf Whitefly on Cotton
University of Hawaii. Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. Integrated Pest Management Program.
University of Florida. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension.
Electronic Data Information Source Publication #ENY129
University of California - Riverside. Center for Invasive Species Research.
University of California - Riverside. Applied Biological Control Research.
Professional
Citations
- Brown, J.K., D.R. Frohlich, and R.C. Rosell. 1995. The sweetpotato or silverleaf whiteflies: biotypes of Bemisia tabaci or a species complex? Annual Review of Entomology 40:511-534.
- CABI. Invasive Species Compendium. Bemisia tabaci (B biotype). CAB International. [Accessed Feb 26, 2015].
- Hoddle, M.S., R.G. Van Driesche, and J.S. Sanderson. 2002. Biological Control: A Grower's Guide to Using Biological Control for Silverleaf Whitefly on Poinsettias in the Northeast United States. University of Massachusetts Extension.
- McAuslane, M.J., and H.A. Smith. 2015. Sweetpotato Whitefly B Biotype, Bemisia tabaci. University of Florida, University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension. Electronic Data Information Source Publication #ENY129 (IN286).
- Perring, T.M. 2001. The Bemisia tabaci species complex. Crop Protection 20(9):725-737.