Pei-Qiong Shi, Jing Liu, Jun-Xi Ye, Ting-Zhen Zhang, Yu-Chun Lin, Qiao-Bin Lao, Bao-Li Qiu, Hong-Kai Zhou, Jin Xu
The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, is a destructive and invasive pest of many horticultural plants including poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima). Outbreaks of B. tabaci cause serious damage by direct feeding on phloem sap, and spreading 100+ plant viruses to crops. Bemisia tabaci were observed more frequently on green than red poinsettia leaves, and the factors responsible for this are unknown. Here, we investigated the development rate, survivorship, fecundity of B. tabaci feeding on green versus red leaves, as well as the leaves' volatiles, trichome density, anthocyanin content, soluble sugars, and free amino acids...
June 4, 2023: Journal of Economic Entomology