Pest Management on Bemisia tabaci Using Trap Plants

Experiments to examine the host selection of the pest,Bemisia tabaci,was conducted in laboratory.The most preferred plant by the pests was used in a field test to determine its efficiency in attracting B.tabaci for an integrated pest management application.The results showed that B.tabaci strongly preferred the cucumber(Cucumis sativus),followed by cabbage(Brassica oleracea),tomato(Lycopersicon esculentum),eggplant(Solanum melongena),cowpea(Vigna sinensis),kidney bean(Phaseolus vulgaris),squash(Cucurbita moschata),and loofah(Luffa cylindrical),but was poorly attracted to soybean(Glycine max),piemarker(Abutilon theophrasti)and pepper(Capsicum frutescens).As a trap plant,cucumber was intercropped with soybeans in a field that attracted adult whiteflies at a rate of 90.2% with a pest control efficiency of 82.83%.Subsequently,several insecticides were applied on the cucumber plants showing varying degrees of control efficacy on adult whiteflies.Among the insecticides tested,22.4% spirotetramat SC,10% nitenpyram EC,10% bifenthrin EC and 25% pymetrozine WP showed greater control efficiencies of 82.72%,78.71%,67.39% and 74.34%,respectively,7days after treatment.