Status of White Fly, (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius) in Vindya Plateau

The white fly Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is a polyphagous insect pest and infested/harbored on many crops/trees/fruits/vegetables and cause economic damage. The studies were conducted during 2014, 2015 and 2016 using one hundred and twenty three new plant species belonging to twenty four families including forty three crops, sixteen fruits plants, twenty one vegetables, eight flowers, eleven weeds, eighteen trees, two spices and one each from ornamental, aromatic, medicinal and creeper at the College of Agriculture, Ganj Basoda (MP). The research revealed that maximum (35%) host plants were damaged from crops followed by vegetables (17.1%), tree (14.6%) fruit plant (13%), weeds (7.3%), flower (6.5%), and rest of the plant categories i.e. Spices, ornamental, aromatic plants, medicinal and creeper were the least preferred by white fly for infestation and multiplication. Maximum (34) host plants were found damaged in fabaceae family followed by cucurbitaceae (14), Malvaceae (8), Solanaceae (8), Moraceae and Euphorbeaceae (6) and Asteraceae and Brassicaceae (5). The rest of the families were found least preferred. The higher per cent of damaged crops was observed in the Fabaceae family (27.6%) followed by cucurbitaceae (11.4%), Poaceae (8.1%), Malvaceae and Solanaceae (6.5%), Asteraceae and Moraceae (4.9%). Infestation was found less than five percentage in rest of the families. The average maximum population intensity i.e. 39 individual/leaf was observed in Malvaceae family followed by Solanaceae (35.7 individual/leaf), Amaranthaceae (28.5 individual/leaf), Solanaceae (35.7 individual/leaf), Caricaceae (28.4 individual/leaf), Cucurbitaceae (23.4 individual/leaf) and Bracicaceae (21.4 individual/leaf), Compositae (19 individual/leaf), Chenopodiaceae (14.5 individual/leaf), Euphorbiaceae (12.1 individual/leaf), Lamiaceae (11.4 individual/leaf) and Poaceae (10.5 individual/leaf). The rest of families noted less than ten individual per leaf.