Impaginato 123 Adv. Hort. Sci., 2019 33(1): 123-131 DOI: 10.13128/ahs-22952 Spiralling whitefly and its management practices in the South Pacific. A review R.R. Chand 1, 2 (*), A.D. Jokhan 2, R. Kelera 1 1 School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment, The University of the South Pacific, Private Mail Bag, Suva, Fiji. 2 School of Science and Technology, The University of Fiji, Private Mail Bag, Lautoka, Fiji. Key words: abundance, Aleurodicus dispersus Russell, management, South Pacific, spiralling whitefly. Abstract: A few species of whiteflies are considered a serious insect pest of veg- etation and ornamental plants across many countries. The Spiralling whiteflies, Aleurodicus dispersus Russell has been recorded on many different plant species across countries. These whiteflies feed exclusively on leaves and have the ability to spread plant diseases. A great deal of research has been done on whiteflies in relation to which control methods would be most effective in pest management. The management of Spiralling whitefly in the South Pacific is heavily reliant on biological control (using the parasitic wasps, predators and entomopathogenic fungi). Other control methods include physical, botanical, and chemical to keep the whitefly population at lower levels. In this paper, an overview of Spiralling whiteflies and its management practices in the South Pacific will be reviewed. 1. Introduction Spiralling whiteflies, Aleurodicus dispersus Russell, 1965 (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), are polyphagous pest of agricultural and horticultural crops in glasshouses and fields worldwide (Oliveira et al., 2001; Mani and Krishnamoorthy, 2002; Stansly and Natwick, 2010). It is a native to the Caribbean region and Central America (Waterhouse and Norris, 1989). It was first noticed as a pest in Hawaii in 1978 and since then has spread to the Pacific islands and other continents (Kumashiro et al., 1983; Waterhouse and Norris, 1989). Whitefly adults and larvae feed on leaves, stems and fruits by inserting stylets into the plant. Some specific plants that are usually attacked include cassava, pepper, papaya, mango, eggplant, citrus, guava, banana, coconut, breadfruit, tropical almond, sea grape, paper bark and rose (Russell, 1965; Jayma et al., 1993; Neuenschwander, 1994; Reddy, 2015). When the stylets are in the phloem, the whiteflies ingest large quantities of sap that contains a lot of sugar. They excrete the excess liquids and sugar which is called honeydew. The honeydew is deposited on leaves (*) Corresponding author: s11074077p@gmail.com Citation: CHAND R.R., JOKHAN A.D., KELERA R., 2019 - Spiralling whitefly and its management practices in the South Pacific. A review. - Adv. Hort. Sci., 33(1): 123-131 Copyright: © 2019 Chand R.R., Jokhan A.D., Kelera R. This is an open access, peer reviewed article published by Firenze University Press (http://www.fupress.net/index.php/ahs/) and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Received for publication 31 March 2018 Accepted for publication 7 September 2018 AHS Advances in Horticultural Science Mini review http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Adv. Hort. Sci., 2019 33(1): 123-131 124 and fruits, fostering the growth of black sooty mould fungi and falling of premature leaves. In addition, these moulds influence the rate of photosynthesis and transpiration as it hinders the light penetration, vapour movement and exchange, leading plants to exhibit yellowish specks on leaves, to wilt or die off (McAuslane et al., 2004; Al-Shareef, 2011; Reddy, 2015). Spiralling whiteflies have caused detrimental effects in the production of crops and ornamental plants. It is one of the most common pest that has the ability to spread diseases and influence the global food production (ECPA, 2015). Over 300 plant species from approximately 77 families have been recorded as hosts of A. Dispersus worldwide (Lambkin, 1999). The spread of the Spiralling whitefly continues to increase rapidly due to the general ineffectiveness of chemical control and other pest control measures (Mani and Krishnamoorthy, 2002). Alternative mea- sures for controlling Spiralling whiteflies include physical, cultural and biological control. These approaches have been used in the South Pacific but there is no data available (except biological control) that supports their practice and effectiveness in terms of whitefly management (Waterhouse and Norris, 1987). Hence, the present review builds infor- mation on studies carried in the South Pacific on A. dispersus Russell alternative control methods, which would be valuable in terms of effective management of the pest. 2. Origin, biology and whitefly-plant interactions Aleurodicus dispersus is a tropical pest to a variety of horticultural crops, ornamental plants and shade trees (Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, 2015). It was first reported in Florida in late 1957 ( n a t i v e a r e a b e i n g t h e C a r i b b e a n a n d C e n t r a l America) and since then it has expanded its range to most regions around the world including North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Australia and several Pacific Islands (Russell, 1965; Waterhouse and Norris, 1987; Reddy, 2015). In the South Pacific, t h e p e s t h a s b e e n r e p o r t e d i n M a j u r o ( 1 9 8 6 ) (Marshall Is), Cook Islands (1984), Fiji (1985), Nauru (1987), Papua New Guinea (1987), Kiribati (June 1988), Tokelau (late 1988) and Tonga (November 1988) (Waterhouse and Norris, 1987). The lifecycle stages of A. dispersus are eggs, four larval instars and adults. The eggs (0.3 mm long) are usually smooth surfaced, yellow and tan elliptical in shape (Reddy, 2015). These are laid at an angle of 90° with Spiralling deposits of white flocculence on underside of the leaves. The first instars are mobile and called crawlers. They can travel to a short dis- tance to select their feeding sites (Martin, 1987). They are usually 0.32 mm long and settle near the spiral pattern of the eggs from which they hatched. As the crawler grows, they develop mid-dorsal waxy tufts and the secretion of wax is usually from the nar- row band of sub-margin. The second and third instars are 0.5-0.65 mm long and remains feeding at same place. The distinguishing feature about the third instar larvae is the presence of glass-like rods of wax (usually short and evenly-spaced) lined along the body. These cottony secretion is much less abundant than on the fourth instar [Russell (1965) cited in The Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI, 2015)]. The fourth instar or puparium is 1.06 mm long and covered with numerous amounts of white mate- rials and long glass-like rods (~8 mm in length); due to fragmentation some are shorter (Fig. 1). The sec- ond to fourth instars are protected by waxy secre- tions making them sessile and scale-like (Martin, 1987; Banjo, 2010). The adults are mobile and most active during the morning. The bodies of males are Fig. 1 - Mature puparium of Spiralling whitefly Glassy wax rods emanating from each compound spores. These glassy rods are whitish in colour, translucent and longer (3-4 times) than the width of the body From the dorusm (extending upwards and outwards) of mature pupa- rium, a copious amount of white cottony substance is secreted Chand et al. - Whitefly management in the South Pacific 125 usually 2.28 mm and females are usually 1.74 mm (3-4 times longer than the body width). The adults develop white translucent powder covering on their bodies. These whiteflies also have a pair of antenna. The males have several pores on the abdomen scat- tered dorsally, laterally and ventrally on the first 2 segments posterior to wax plates while the females are without pores [Russell (1965) cited in The Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (2015)]. The eye is reddish-brown in colour. The Spiralling whiteflies also have two characteristic dark spots on their forewings (Fig. 2). After mating adult females lay eggs in irregularly spiralling patterns and it is where whiteflies derived their common name, Spiralling whitefly (Reddy, 2015). Heavy occasional rains and cool temperatures result in a temporary reduction in A. dispersus popu- lation (Mani, 2010). The mortality rate of immature stages increase between 40-45°C, and for adults the mortality rate increases at 35-40°C. Temperature below 10°C also lead to increased mortality (Cherry, 1979; Waterhouse and Norris, 1987). However, pop- ulation of Spiralling whiteflies will increase during droughts and presumably when the natural enemies decline. The spread of crawler and winged adult whiteflies usually occurs with short-distance move- ments whereby the crawlers are walking on the plant on which it hatched and the plants that touch it and adults fly to other parts of the same plant or to other nearby host plants. Instead, the movement to long distance involves the international horticultural trade (Pacific Pests and Pathogens, 2016). Whitefly-plant interactions - stomatal conductance Whiteflies cause damage to plant productivity in terms of photosynthesis, respiration and transpira- tion performance (Shannag and Freihat, 2009). The whitefly A. dispersus is considered to be a major pest causing damages to crops (Boopathi et al., 2015). These insect pests are reported to alter the chemical processes, growth and photosynthesis (Schröder et al., 2005; Fatouros et al., 2012). Moreover the plants primary metabolism is also altered by this particular infestation. For example, egg deposition by a particu- lar species of moth (Podoptera frugiperda) demon- strated inhibitory effect towards the production of herbivore induced plant volatiles in maize plants (Fatouros et al., 2012). The egg deposition has also shown to influence the rate of photosynthesis by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide diffusion in the mesophyll cells (Fig. 3) (Schröder et al., 2005; Fatouros et al., 2012). For instance, the study by Shannag and Freihat (2009) concluded that gas exchange in cucumber plants infested by whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) caused photosynthesis to decline by up to 30%. The feeding behaviour of whiteflies also Fig. 2 - Adult of Spiralling whitefly. Fig. 3 - (A) the stomatal underneath the normal leaf surface and (B) the egg attached on the stomata of infected leaf. Presence of dark spot on the forewings White waxy flocculants materials Dark reddish-brown eye, where part the compound eye joined by 3 or 4 facets Presence of a pair of antenna Adv. Hort. Sci., 2019 33(1): 123-131 126 increased the respiration rate by 24-78% and the rate of water loss from infested leaves was 3-32% greater than that of control leaves. Likewise, the increasing number of whiteflies (Tobacco whitefly) led to increase in transpiration rate (Shannag and Freihat, 2009). The artificial infestation of Spiralling whiteflies described by Pitan (2003) on pepper led to increase in the damage of leaves. This simply means that the chlorophyll, sugar, protein and crude fibre contents of the leaves decreased as with the level of infestation. 3. Status and damage in the South Pacific The reproduction and dispersal rate of Spiralling whiteflies are relatively high, posing great threat to vegetable, tropical fruit tree and ornamental indus- tries around the globe (Pacific Pests and Pathogens, 2016). The host range of these Spiralling whiteflies covers at least a range of 27 plant families, 38 genera and more than 100 species (Waterhouse and Norris, 1989). Despite there is no evidence in the measure- ment of economic loss by these Spiralling whiteflies in the South Pacific. Heavy infestations on plants is more likely to result in economic loss (Pacific Pests a n d P a t h o g e n s , 2 0 1 6 ) . B e i n g a p o l y p h a g o u s , Spiralling whitefly has been recorded on many plant species in different countries. According to surveys conducted from 1996 to 1997 (Waterhouse and Norris, 1989; Barro et al., 1997), Spiralling whitefly is an exotic pest in American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kosrae (FSM), Pohnpei (FSM), Truk (FSM), Yap (FSM), G u a m , K i r i b a t i , M a r s h a l l I s l a n d s , N a u r u , N e w Caledonia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, French Polynesia, Tonga and Western Samoa (Table 1). The survey also revealed the absence of A. dispersus from Niue, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. 4. Management of Aleurodicus dispersus Russell The management of whitefly has been difficult as a result of its many host plants. Perennial plants such as ornamentals, fruit trees and shade trees were probably used successfully throughout the year by this coloniser (whiteflies) which sucks the sap of leaves (Kajita et al., 1991). According to Chandel et al. (2010), whiteflies must be dealt with a combina- tion of environmental manipulations, natural enemy enhancement and area-wide control programme. T h i s t e c h n i q u e i s k n o w n a s I n t e g r a t e d P e s t Management (IPM) which uses a combination of dif- ferent strategies to control pests. The IPM program uses current, comprehensive information on the life cycles of pests and their interaction, combination with pest control methods to manage pest by the most economical means with least hazardous to the environment and the people (Boopathi, 2013; EPA, 2017). However, based on the literature available in the South Pacific, there are no reported studies on chemical and physical or combined (IPM) control practices on A. dispersus. The only data available is on biological control (Waterhouse and Norris, 1987). There are various methods of biological control of whitefly techniques utilised in the South Pacific, such as the use of parasitic wasps, predators (lacewings, big-eyed bugs and minute pirate bugs) and the use of entomopathogenic fungi of the genus Aschersonia. Biological control Natural predators and parasitoid. Spiralling white- fly is not regarded as a pest in its native area of Caribbean and Central America where it is assumed that populations are kept low by natural enemies (Prathapan, 1996). Biological control is perhaps the safest and most sound approach to pest control. It is an effective tool in programmes of Integrated Pest Table 1 - Distribution of Aleurodicus dispersus whiteflies in the Pacific found during the whitefly survey (1996-1997) Aleurodicus dispersus AmS CoI Fij Kos Poh Tru Yap Gua Kir MaI Nau Niu NMI Pal PNG SI FrP Ton Tuv Van WSa Distribution in 1996/7 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Exotic x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Serious Pest potential x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x AmS= American Samoa; CoI= Cook Islands; Fij= Fiji; Kos= Kosrae (FSM); Poh= Pohnpei (FSM); Tru= Truk (FSM); Yap= Yap (FSM); Gua= Guam; Kir= Kiribati; MaI= Marshall Islands; Nau= Nauru; NCa= New Caledonia; Niu= Niue; NMI= Northern Mariana Islands; Pal= Palau; PNG= Papua New Guinea; SI= Solomon Islands; FrP= French Polynesia; Ton= Tonga; Tuv= Tuvalu, Van= Vanuatu and WSa= Western Samoa. The letter ‘x’ indicates A.dispersus indication for presence and concern. Information retrieved from Barro et al. (1997). Chand et al. - Whitefly management in the South Pacific 127 Management. Utilising natural enemies reduces the risk of pesticide usage that results into environmen- tal pollution increase. The importation of parasitoids of genera Encarsia or Eretmocerus and of various predators have been successfully used in greenhous- es for whitefly control (Gerling et al., 2001). The t h r e e p a r a s i t i c s p e c i e s , E r e t m o c e r u s m u n d u s ( M e r c e t ) , E r e t m o c e r u s e r e m i c u s R o s e a n d Z o l n e r o w i c h a n d E n c a r s i a f o r m o s a G a h a n (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) have been used against whiteflies in Japan (Sugiyama et al., 2011). In Fiji, the common predators of A. dispersus are Coccinellids Megalocarla (= Archaioneda tricolor) fijiensis, Serangiella and the Neuropteran cbrysop [Kumar et al. (1987) cited in Waterhouse and Norris (1989)]. Some common predators of whiteflies are lacewings, big-eyed bugs, minute pirate bugs and several lady beetles (For example; Scymnus or Chilocorus species). A major outbreak of Spiralling w h i t e f l i e s o n P a p a y a w a s r e p o r t e d i n S a m o a (Pestnet, 2005). The outbreak of whiteflies usually happens when their natural enemies are disturbed or destroyed by pesticides, dust build-up and other factors. These outbreaks commonly affected guavas, palms, ground orchids, and poinsettias (ornamental). A recent study showed that A. swirskii (mite) is increasingly used for the biological control of thrips and whiteflies in many crops (Messelink et al., 2008). Three major predators that have been found to be most effective in attacking Spiralling whiteflies are Megalocaria fijiensis, Serangiella and the neuropter- an chrysopa species (Waterhouse and Norris, 1989). According to Waterhouse and Norris (1989), the establishment of Pacific bridgehead in Hawaii (1978) led to spread of Spiralling whiteflies to many of the Pacific nations. Parasitic wasps Encarsia (?) haitien- sis, Encarsia species and three coccinellid predators from Trinidad were used as biological agents to reduce the damaging populations of whitefly in Guam. It was noted in Lanai Island (Hawaii) that E. (?) haitiensis and Encarsia species could effectively control the Spiralling whitefly. Adult whiteflies were observed on buses, cars and near parking areas. By late 1979, A. dispersus was considered to be an eco- nomic pest and initiated a search for natural ene- mies in the Caribbean. Different species of coccinel- lid predators and aphelinid parasite were introduced in 1979 and 1980 to reduce the population of A. dis- persus. In Fiji, A. dispersus spread rapidly and became a serious pest since 1986. The introduction of Encarsia (?) haitiensis, N. oculatus and N. bieolor from Guam and Hawaii became well established up to 2 km from their release sites. The three predators found to attack A.dispersus prior to 1986 were the coccinellids Megalocarla fijiensis, Serangiella sp. and the neuropteran Chrysopa sp. Similarly, in American Samoa, A. dispersus were found in 1981 on a wide range of plants including ornamentals, citrus and other fruit trees. The introduction of coccinellid predators and the parasite Encarsia (?) haitiensis in 1984 from Hawaii rapidly reduced the A. dispersus population. Table 2 provides detail as where the Spiralling whiteflies were discovered, their host range and biological control in Hawaii, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Pohnpei, Guam, Kiribati, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Western Samoa. Physical control of A. dispersus - removal and traps. Removal of leaves may be an environmental friendly approach, but it does not completely remove the pest, it rather lessens the level of whitefly popu- lation from the plant. A slight infestation can quickly spread to other plants. The removal of leaves is a good approach to get rid of non-mobile nymphal and pupal stages of whiteflies from highly dense leaves. In addition, yellow sticky traps are used to trap adults since whiteflies are attracted to yellow (Barbedo, 2014). It is where a trap consisting strips of paper and sticky substances such as petroleum are placed in the greenhouse. The insects are caught as they fly. The drawback of this type of approach is that it only captures specimens that can fly. However it is generally ineffective for the insects that are in their early stages since they are not able to fly (Barbedo, 2014). This method is not a full-proof con- trol method for farmers since it does not eliminate damaging population, but aims to reduce the white- fly population (Nakamura et al., 2007). Botanicals. Natural pesticides such as plant essen- tial oils would represent an alternative in crop protec- tion (Coats, 1994; Isman, 2000; Koul et al., 2008). Different plants have been used for the control of pests and the research has worked out well (Gonzalez- Coloma et al., 2010). Medicinal plants can be an alter- native to a lot of synthetic chemicals for human health and agriculture. However, people in Fiji and the rest of the South Pacific countries are not very cognizant of the presence of the great plant diversity surrounding them. The only study published in relation to botani- cal effects against A. dispersus were carried by Chand et al. (2016). Plant extracts such as essential oils from these medicinal plants could possibly be used in agri- culture in the form of pest controls. The study focused 128 Adv. Hort. Sci., 2019 33(1): 123-131 on five common medicinal plants randomly selected and screened for the insecticidal properties (fumigant and repellent test). These medicinal plants were M a k o s o i ( C a n a n g a o d o r a t a ) , L e m o n g r a s s (Cymbopogon. citratus), Curry Leaves [Murraya. koenigii (L.) Spreng] Tulsi [Ocimum tenuiflorum (L.)] and Uci (Euodia. hortensis forma hortensis). The results revealed that Tulsi essential oils showed strong fumigant toxicity (100% mortality in 3 hours) while Lemon grass and Curry leaves showed the best repellent effect with LC50 value of 0.004 and 0.113, respectively (Chand et al., 2016). Table 2 - Introductions for the biological control of A.dispersus Country Aleurodicus dispersus Discovered place and Year Plants on which they were found first Introduction of biological Control Hawaii Honululu in September 1978 Tropical almond Coleoptera. Delphastus pusillus (1980) from Trinidad. Nephaspis ocu- latus (1979) from Trinidad. Nephaspis oculatus (1979) from Honduras. N. bicolor(1979) from Trinidad. Hymenoptera. E. ? haitiensis (1979) from Trinidad. Encarsia sp. (1980) from Trinidad. American Samoa Tutuila in 1981 Guava, ornamentals, citrus and other fruit trees. Infestations were noted on banana leaves and later in vegetable gardens Coleoptera. Delphastus pusillus (1984) from Hawaii. Nephaspis ocula- tus (1984) from Hawaii. Nephaspis bicolor (1984) from Hawaii. Hymenoptera. E.? haitiensis (1984) from Hawaii. Cook Islands Rarotonga in 1984 Frangipani, guava, hibiscus and mango Coleoptera. ? Nephaspis bicolor (1985) from Hawaii. Hymenoptera. ?Encarsia ? haitiensis (1985) from Hawaii. Encarsia ? haitiensis (1988) from Fiji. Fiji Suva in April 1986 -- Coleoptera. Nephaspis oculatus (1987) from Guam. Nephaspis ocula- tus (1987) from Hawaii. N. bicolor (1987) from Hawaii. Hymenoptera. E. ? haitiensis (1987) from Guam. E. ? haitiensis (1987) from Hawaii. Pohnpei -- -- Hymenoptera. E.? haitiensis (1986) from Guam. Guam Guam in 1981 Coconut, frangipani, guava and mango Coleoptera. Nephaspis oculatus (1981) from Hawaii. Hymenoptera. Encarsia ? haitiensis (1981) from Hawaii Kiribati Bikenibeu, Tarawa, in June 1988 Chillies, bell peppers, tomatoes, paw- paw, guava, breadfruit, banana, ornar- nentals -including, frangipani and Coleus A biological control project is to be commenced in the near future Palau -- -- Hymenoptera. E.? haitiensis (1986) from Guam. Papua New Guinea October 1987 in the Port Moresby Guava, mango leaves and coconut palms *Coccinellids and spiders were seen preying on them Tonga In November, 1988 -- *attacked by Unidentified wasps. Western Samoa First recognised in 1985 -- -- Chand et al. - Whitefly management in the South Pacific 129 Chemical control. The use insecticides are wide- spread among farmers. For instance the paper by Kajita et al. (1991) provides a description of several insecticides against A. dispersus on soya beans in Indonesia. However, because the whitefly has wide host-plant ranges in addition to the fact that insecti- cides also have impact on natural enemies, chemical control is usually considered impractical and uneco- nomic in the long-term (Kajita et al., 1991; Lambkin, 1998). Carmichael et al. (2008) also discourage the use of chemical control for managing Spiralling whiteflies, suggesting that soaps and detergents can provide effective control in small scale planting. In the South Pacific, there are no recorded publications dealing with chemical control measures of A. disper- sus yet (Waterhouse and Norris, 1987). According to Reddy (2015), the common chemi- cals used for controlling whiteflies are dimethoate 30 EC at 0.05% and insecticidal soap at 2.5%, which deterred the adults. Likewise, the following chemi- cals imidacloprid, buprofezin and pyridaben are also u s e d t o m a n a g e w h i t e f l i e s ( B i e t a l . , 2 0 0 2 ) . Spiromesifen, a novel insecticide inhibited egg hatching in green house by 80% to 100% at the con- centrations of 3.1, 3.0, and 10.0 µg mL-1. The insecti- cide also showed mortality of 100% for the first, sec- ond, and third instar nymphs of whiteflies (Toscano and Bi, 2007). Chemical approach mostly kills those that come in contact with the insecticides (chemicals). The use o f t h e c h e m i c a l a p p r o a c h s h o w e d e f f i c i e n c y towards controlling pests in small and in large scale farms. For instance, farmers in Colombia intensify the use of insecticides, as the whiteflies reduced the crop yield by 79% (Carabalí et al., 2010). Although, plant productions may have increased due to pesti- cidal applications at the same time these chemicals may have raised detrimental concerns for so many (Aktar et al., 2009). Chemical pollution is a major concern to the environment and to human health due to the bioaccumulation of chemicals through food chains, resulting in severe physiological disor- ders and diseases (Oliva et al., 2001; Baldi et al., 2003; Briggs, 2003; Saiyed et al., 2003; Lemaire et al., 2004). The extensive use of synthetic chemicals has led to pests in developing resistance to chemi- cals and at the same time resulting into the accumu- lation of harmful chemical pollutants in the environ- ment. These pollutants gradually affect the quality of air and water, on which many organisms rely on. 5. Conclusions and future perspective Whiteflies are considered serious pests to vegeta- tion and ornamental plants in many countries and as such, Spiralling whiteflies are fast becoming a con- cern for many farmers in the Pacific and other parts of the world. In the South Pacific the pest has been reported in Majuro (1986) (Marshall Is), Cook Islands (1984), Fiji (1985), Nauru (1987), Papua New Guinea (1987), Kiribati (June 1988), Tokelau (late 1988) and Tonga (November 1988) (Waterhouse and Norris, 1987). These whiteflies feed exclusively on leaves, which eventually damage the plant leading to dis- eases or plant death. Whiteflies are very difficult to manage as a result of multi host plants that support their lifespan. The most common management prac- tices used for the control of whiteflies are biological control using the parasitic wasps, predators and entomopathogenic fungi, physical method using removal and traps, botanicals such as plant extracts and essential oils, and chemical control. At present there is no available literature in the South Pacific that provides data on chemical and physical prac- tices. 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