What sort of damage can whiteflies do?
Whiteflies can seriously injure plants by sucking juices from them causing wilting, stunting, or even death. Whiteflies also secrete a sticky substance called honeydew. This material can coat any object, leaves, fruit, windshields, concrete walks, etc. on which it falls. In addition, several molds, collectively called “sooty molds” because of their black appearance, can grow on this honeydew resulting in an unsightly, sticky mess. Sooty mold can make fruit unmarketable and can block sunlight from reaching the leaf surface thus reducing photosynthesis. Whitefly adults can also transmit several viruses from diseased to healthy plants. These viruses are important mainly in commercial agriculture, but plants in backyard gardens and the landscape can also be effected. The most economically important whitefly transmitted viruses are the gemini viruses, so called because the virus particle is composed of twin identical appearing spheres. When populations are extremely high, large numbers of a
