New Ficus Pest – Paraleyrodes Bondari, a Nesting Whiteflyby Doug Caldwell

Blog, Turf & Landscape February 16, 2012 1:30 pm

What next? In addition to the rugose spiraling whitefly (RSWH) which showed up in late 2011, we now have another ficus whitefly! This was first noticed in Collier County by keen-eyed Scott Krueger, our DPI plant inspector. This Brazilian whitefly causes horrendous amounts of sooty mold, much like the RSWH. This newest whitefly, believed to be Paraleyrodes bondari, is smaller about 1 mm from head to tail, whereas the RSWF is h-u-g-e, almost 3 mm long. Also the Brazilian whitefly is referred to (by whitefly taxonomists) as a “nesting” whitefly.

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Doug Caldwell, Ph.D., is the commercial landscape horticulture extension agent and landscape entomologist with the University of Florida Collier County Extension Service. For updates on Southwest Florida Horticulture visit: http://collier.ifas.ufl.edu

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