Whitefly - pest control

The whitefly is an insect that develops in high humidity and a warm climate, for example, in greenhouses, greenhouses, greenhouses, in houses or apartments. It prefers dense plantings with a small amount of space - the whitefly does not like air movement.

The size of the whitefly reaches 3 mm. She has long thin legs. The color of the insect's body is yellowish, densely covered with white powder and has 4 wings. The insect reproduces all year round and under favorable conditions can produce up to 15 generations per year. A clutch of eggs (up to 2 dozen at a time) is placed on the lower part of a young leaf. The length of the egg can reach 0.25 mm. The shape is oval, the color is green. The life span of a female is about 1 month, during which she manages to lay 150-300 eggs.

Features of biology

They live, as a rule, in moist, shady places, especially often found on the underside of plant leaves. Larvae of various ages feed on plant cell juice, releasing sugar-like substances - pods. Puparia or adults go to winter, remaining in the soil (under leaves, grass, clods of earth) until spring. Larvae die.

Harmfulness

Whitefly causes damage to vegetable, berry, fruit, ornamental plants and fodder crops, it is active both in open ground and in greenhouse conditions. The danger for plants is the larvae of whiteflies, which at the stage of limited mobility are attached to the juicy parts of the plant and feed on its juices. The waste products of whiteflies - sugary secretions - become a favorable environment for the development of pathogens, fungi (for example, cladosporium), which can cause severe damage and even death of the plant.

Growth

Development is incomplete and complicated, like hypermorphosis. Hypermorphosis differs from full metamorphosis (hypermetamorphosis) in that during the larval stage of development, a calm, sedentary phase appears. According to its structure, it resembles an imago. Depending on the temperature, the development of 1 to several generations, on average 3, is observed during the growing season.

Egg

Egg laying begins in the spring with the onset of persistent warm weather. In a warm climate, or in the conditions of greenhouses and greenhouses, reproduction can take place all year round. Eggs on the plant (usually the underside of the leaves) are arranged randomly or in small groups of rings, large clusters are rarely formed.

Larva

After emerging from the eggs, the larvae of the first age move actively in search of food, then, having found a suitable place, they attach themselves to the plant and lose their mobility until they transform into adults. They stop feeding at the larval stage of the IV age (pupa or puparia), when the formation of the structures and organs of an adult insect begins. The stage of puparia development lasts, in general, 10-14 days.

Imago

Development from egg to adult takes 20-40 days depending on temperature and humidity. They begin to copulate 2-3 days after hatching, after which egg laying begins. Fertility also depends on environmental conditions. At 20-27°С and humidity of about 70-90%, the number of laid eggs reaches 300 pieces. The lifespan of a female is about 30 days.

Pest control options

The whitefly is attracted to the yellow color, therefore, it is appropriate to place yellow traps with an adhesive layer next to the plants, the whitefly lands on them, not distinguishing the yellow from the color of the plant, and sticks to them;

To prevent the appearance of whiteflies in greenhouse conditions, it is necessary to observe the hydro-temperature regime, regularly ventilate the room and ensure that whiteflies do not enter the greenhouse together with other plants, carefully inspect the plants to detect the initial stages of damage.

Control of whiteflies with the help of pesticides. Biological insecticides with active Avermectin are effective in the fight against whiteflies. One of such bioinsecticides that have proven their effectiveness is Imexab™.
At a dosage of 10-20 g/10 l of water, signs of the drug's action are observed already 3-4 hours after treatment. Larvae stop moving and feeding, which leads to their death. Imexab™ also has an ovicidal effect, which allows the destruction of egg-laying whiteflies when the drug hits the egg-laying directly.

To destroy the pest, 3-4 treatments with an interval of 3-5 days are recommended, since the active flight of the butterfly is observed during the treatment of the affected plants.

White-winged butterflies may reappear. because they have a fairly strong migration from neighboring areas. But thanks to the destruction of ovipositors and larvae, damage to plants will not occur.

Due to the difficulty of processing the ovipositors on the lower part of the leaves and the presence of a wax coating on plants (especially cabbage), it is recommended to use the Izomax™ adjuvant in a dosage of 2 ml/10 l of water. Thanks to Izomax™, plant leaves are evenly covered with the working solution, which increases the effectiveness of the drug in destroying whitefly eggs and larvae.

Before the Imexab™ treatment

1 day after treatment

After 15-20 days after the last treatment, it is necessary to see if there is no new larvae of the pest and, if necessary, carry out repeated treatments.

Due to the biological origin of this drug, its accumulation in plants does not occur. And therefore the product is safe for use.

Our client feedback about efficiency of Imexab™ treatment against whitefly

A feature of the whiteflies treatment

The main attention should be focused on the fight against the larvae that actively suck the juice from plants, as well as on the ovipositors, the destruction of which allows you to reduce the next population of the pest and in 3-4 treatments to reach the critical threshold of non-recovery for the pest.

It is worth considering all crops that are affected by the pest. Because after processing, for example, cabbage and omitting tomatoes, whiteflies will quickly return to their previous places - this is relevant both for farmers and for homesteads.

Carefully monitor the affected areas, if the fight is carried out in one field, and the pest remains intact in the neighboring one, then such a fight will be almost ineffective and the infection of the treated field with whiteflies is only a matter of time.