Identification
adults are winged fly-looking insects, usually found on undersides of leaves
grey to white (1.25- 2 mm long)
Damage
-plant sap is removed from the leaves and young shoots causing plant stunting and leaf drop
-excretion of honeydew, reducing photosynthesis and causing sooty mold to colonize on the leaves
-often a disease vector, ingesting virus particles when feeding and spreading them to other plants
Beneficial Insects for control
Encarsia formosa (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)
-parasitoid wasps
-excellent control of greenhouse whitefly
-lays eggs in pupae of Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Greenhouse whitefly)
Delphastus catalinae (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
-predatory beetle
Micromus variegatus (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae)
-generalist predatory adults & larvae