Development and reproduction of Bemisia argentifolii (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) on five host plants

Effects of 5 commercially grown vegetables on the development, survivorship, and reproduction of the whitefly Bemisia argentifolii Bellows and Perring were studied in the laboratory. The percentages of whitefly immatures that survived on eggplant, Solanum melongena L.; tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum Miller; sweet potato, Ipomoea batatus (L.) Lam; cucumber, Cucumis sativus L.; and garden bean, Phaseolus vulgaris L. at 25 +/- 1 degrees C were 88.7, 60.2, 67.5, 46.4, and 45.8%, respectively. The body lengths from 2nd to 4th instars among populations on these 5 host plants were not significantly different. Female nymphs were significantly larger than males. Developmental time from egg to adult ranged from 17.3 d on eggplant to 20.9 d on garden bean. The average number of eggs laid per female were 223.7, 167.5, 77.5, 66.0, and 83.5 on the above respective hosts, and female adults lived an average of 24.0, 20.5, 16.6, 9.8, and 13.4 d on these same hosts. The intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm) for B. argentifolii on eggplant was highest. Jackknife estimates of rm varied from 0.192 on eggplant to 0.120 on garden bean. The mean generation time of the population on these hosts ranged from 23.2 to 27.2 d at 25 degrees C. Based on life-table analyses of whitefly populations, we concluded that eggplant was the most suitable host for B. argentifolii and garden bean the least suitable