Aleurolobus marlatti (Quaintance)
(Also known as Aleurolobus niloticus Priesner & Hosny).
Taxonomic placing: Insecta, Hemimetabola, Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha, Aleyrodidae.
Common name: Marlatt white fly, Nile whitefly.
Geographic Distribution: Mediterranean region, Iran, Africa, Far East region.
Morphology: Puparium mostly black, flattened and fringed with fine setae; operculum acute posteriorly. Adults white-yellow with 2-3 diagonal reddish stripes across the wings.
Host plants: Polyphagous.
Life history: This species has 3 annual generations on pomegranate, four on citrus. It is active from spring to autumn, usually ovipositing on the under sides of young leaves, in the lower parts of host plants.
Economic importance: An occasional pest of citrus. Its feeding on the leaves causes some damage but most injury is due to the excreted [honeydew[(entry/Honeydew) colonized by sootymold.
Management
Biological control: Several parasitoids, mostly Aphelinidae of the genera Encarsia and Eretmocerus (especially E. siphonini Viggiani and Battaglia), usually control this pest.
References
Abd-Rabou, S. 2002. Biological control of two species of whiteflies by Eretmocerus siphonini (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) in Egypt. Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica 37: 257-260.
Bassiri, Gh. 2003. Study on the biology of citrus aleyrodids in south of Iran.
Guershon, M. and Seplyarsky, V. 2011. The Aleyrodidae of Israel, Biology, Distribution and Host Plant Associations. Plant Protection and Inspection Servives, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Israel, 20 pp.
Mahagna, M. and Gerling, D. 2008. Bionomics of the Nile whitefly, Aleurolobus marlatti, in Israel. Israel Journal of Entomology 38: 150-151.