Whitefly (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) -a potential pest of rice in West Africa.
1989
Alam M.S.
Whiteflies are pests of many crops and also vectors of several plant virus diseases. Whiteflies on rice were first reported in 1966, when Aleurocybotus indicus D. and S. was identified in Satara, India. In 1970, Bemisia tabaci M and H. was found in rice in Madras, India. A. indicus was reported to be restricted to India, with its preferred hosts graminaceous grasses Chloris barbata and Dactyloctenium aegyptium. But A. indicus was reported in Africa in April 1977, on irrigated rice at Richard Toll, Senegal. In recent years, it has spread to Mauritania, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Niger. The insect attacks rice plants from seedling to flowering stages. During the hot, dry season, especially in Feb, Mar, and Apr, the insect is seen in irrigated rice at the IITA [International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria] Experimental farm at Ibadan. It has become a serious problem in screenhouses and insect rearing cages. When infestation is high, black sooty mold that develops on rice leaves can cause withering and plant death. In the course of screening for Diopsis longicornis in the screenhouse, no Oryza sativa or O. glaberrima varieties that were tolerant of whitefly were found (500 entries tested). A calcid larval parasite, Encarsia sp., found at Ibadan is definitely not Encarsia formosa, a larval parasite of other whiteflies.
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