the.com/whitefly
A flake of moth-shaped dust that drinks plants dry and laughs at your pesticides.
means A tiny sap-sucking insect, not a true fly, that clusters on the undersides of leaves and weakens plants while spreading disease.
from A plain English compound of "white" and "fly," naming the bug by its powdery-pale wings and its flitting, fly-like swarming — though entomologically it sits with aphids and scale insects, not flies at all. The name is descriptive folk-naming at its most literal: people saw little white things that flew, and called them whiteflies.
- not a fly
- They're relatives of aphids and scale insects
- sticky betrayal
- Excrete honeydew that grows black sooty mold
- breed fast
- Females lay eggs without ever mating
- virus couriers
- Spread over 100 devastating plant diseases
- pesticide proof
- Famous for evolving resistance within seasons
bemisia tabaci — invasive pest destroying tomato crops across africa, asia, and americas since the 1980s
trialeurodes vaporariorum — greenhouse whitefly devastating ornamental plants and vegetables in temperate regions globally
aleurotrachelus socialis — spiraling whitefly infesting over 60 plant species in florida since 2000s outbreak