Whitefly
{{Taxobox
color = pink | name = Whitefly | image = Weisse-Fliege.jpg | image_width = 240px | image_caption = Whiteflies | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Arthropoda | classis = Insecta | ordo = Hemiptera | subordo = Sternorrhyncha | superfamilia = Aleyrodoidea | familia = Aleyrodidae
The whiteflies, comprising only the family Aleyrodidae, are small hemipterans which typically feed on the underside of plant leaves. Whiteflies damage plants, by tapping into the phloem. The plants lose turgor and react to the whiteflies' toxic saliva. As whiteflies congregate in large numbers, they overwhelm plants quickly. It can get so bad that when you tap a leaf, a swarm of whiteflies will go airborne before re-settling under the leaf. They also excrete honeydew, which promotes mold growth and can ruin a cotton crop with its stickiness. They have an unusually modified form of metamorphosis, in that the immature stages begin life as mobile individuals, but soon attach to the plant, and the stage before the adult is called a pupa (though it is not at all the same as the true pupal stage in holometabolous insects).
One well known species is the greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum) which is a major pest in greenhouses but there are other pest species such as the bandedwinged whitefly and the silverleaf whitefly.
Whitefly control is difficult. The greenhouse whitefly has developed resistance to many pesticides. The USDA recommends "an integrated program that focuses on prevention and relies on cultural and biological control methods when possible." [1] They advise use of yellow sticky traps to monitor infestations and only selective use of insecticides.greenfly, aphid* USDA Whitefly Knowledgebase
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