Variation in Developmental Rate on Different Hosts and Overwintering of the Sweetpotato Whitefly,Bemisia tabaci(Homoptera: Aleyrodidae)

Time required for Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) to complete development from egg to adult at 26.7 ± 1°C was influenced by the host to which it was confined. Development was completed in 30% less time on lettuce, cucumber, eggplant, and squash than on broccoli or carrot. Five new hosts (carrot, guar, guayule, alfalfa, and lettuce) on which B. tabaci may complete its development are reported. Two-week lettuce leaf samples indicate one generation was completed from 27 October 1983 to 4 January 1984 under field conditions in the southern California desert. Field crops may serve as important overwintering hosts.