Aleyrodidae sp. (family)

Whitefly at Reid, ACT

Request use of media

Identification history

Aleyrodidae sp. (family)	24 May 2018	MichaelMulvaney
Aleyrodidae sp. (family)	6 May 2018	RogerF
Unidentified	6 May 2018	JanetRussell

Identify this sighting

Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

User's notes

Insect 1mm long

6 comments

MichaelMulvaney wrote:

7 May 2018

Roger and Kim - I looked up the ALA records for this introduced species which are very sparse in Australia and not recorded before in our region. It is described as being within the worlds 100 worst pests - I'm wondering whether this is a "new" infestation that we should try and control - or at least get Janet to make a collection and confirm ID?

KenT wrote:

7 May 2018

Michael, on the assumption this is Bemisia tabaci and not Trialeurodes vaporariorum (not sure how to distinguish them from these images) the situation is potentially very complex as a CABI datasheet explains (see https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/8927 ). From the datasheet “…it is generally accepted that, rather than one complex species, B. tabaci is a complex of 11 genetic groups. These genetic groups are composed of at least 34 morphologically indistinguishable species,..” At least one member of this species complex appears to be native to Australia (Eastern Australian Native Whitefly) see https://www.cottoninfo.com.au/sites/default/files/documents/SLW%20booklet%20-%20Nov%202016.pdf . The serious nature of members of this pest group arises both from direct crop feeding damage and the capacity to vector many serious plant viruses, but all this can depend on the biotype. If the ACT gov't has access to the Australian Plant Pest Database you might be able to get a better idea of the distribution for this species.

MichaelMulvaney wrote:

7 May 2018

Thanks Ken at the very least the links you provided indicate that it is widespread across eastern Australia, much more than ALA records suggested

JanetRussell wrote:

8 May 2018

Michael, let me know if you would like me to follow this up.

MichaelMulvaney wrote:

9 May 2018

Thanks Janet - I think it is more common and widespread than I first thought - so no more action required at this stage

RogerF wrote:

9 May 2018

I don't have the expertise to separate Bemisia from Trialeurodes so perhaps it should be treated as an unknown species of whitefly. Aleyrodidae.