The greenhouse whitefly is often confused with the tobacco whitefly because they are very similar in appearance. However, the greenhouse whitefly has horizontal wings that form a triangle, is lighter in color and is slightly larger. 

The detection of whitefly is very important at the beginning of new cultivation. A whitefly is only 1 to 3 mm in size and has uniform of white wings and 7 antennas. Adult flies often sit at the top on the underside of leaves in the plan and lay their eggs mainly on the underside of young leaves. Moreover, the eggs of the insect are deposited here – these are often white at the beginning, but after two days they turn into a dark colour. By monitoring whitefly early, for example by looking and using sticky traps, the pest can be kept in control and you can act in time. This is particularly important in the case of tobacco whitefly, because they deposit eggs throughout the whole greenhouse and are present in the crop. Therefore, the whole crop should be treated.

The whitefly goes through a total of six stages: egg, four larval stages and adult fly. Larvae are oval in shape and remain active in the first stage; from stage two, they attach themselves to the leaf. The larvae extract nutrients from the leaf. After pupating, the adult greenhouse whitefly soon begins sucking plant juices.

Not only is greenhouse whitefly similar to tobacco whitefly in appearance; the damage pattern of both pests is the same. Whiteflies both puncture plant cells to feed on plant sap, resulting in leaf deformity or death. The fly mainly ingests proteins and excretes excess sugar through honeydew, on which sooty moulds can in turn grow. In addition, the whitefly also spreads viruses such as the Tomato Chlorosis Virus (ToCV). 

Because the greenhouse whitefly has many different host plants, it is important to prevent the infestation and to control it in a timely manner if it is detected. Good farm hygiene is an important part. The moment you detect whitefly in the crop, you can control the whitefly biologically with natural enemies, including parasitic wasps and predatory mites and correctively with chemical crop protection agents.

Greenhouse whitefly biological control can be achieved by introducing natural enemies into the crop. The natural enemies of greenhouse whitefly are parasitic wasps, predatory mites and predatory bugs:

• Eretmocerus eremicus: this parasitic wasp parasitizes the larvae of the greenhouse whitefly by laying an egg among them. Once the egg hatches, the parasitic wasp larva crawls into the host. The larva dies approximately after two weeks.
• Encarsia formosa: this parasitic wasp parasitizes the larva of the whitefly, causing it to die. After several weeks a new parasitic wasp emerges from - the now black discolored pupa.
• Amblyseius swirskii: this predatory mite can develop on plant food such as pollen and plant juices and will therefore easily establish itself in the crop.
• Transeius montdorensis: this is a predatory mite that also survives on pollen and can therefore establish itself in many crops.
• Delphastus catalinae: this is a predatory beetle that walks all over the plant in search of food. 
• Macrolophus: Per day, this predatory bug can suck out as many as 40-50 whitefly eggs. Macrolophus pygmaeus eats both greenhouse whitefly and tobacco fly.

Whitefly can also be controlled with chemical pesticides. For an overview of all permitted pesticides for your crop, you can use the Spray Advisory Card.

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