Whitefly butterfly and methods of dealing with it

The question of how to get rid of whiteflies in a greenhouse is all the more relevant because this small butterfly affects various cultures. It parasitizes on tomatoes, and on cucumbers, and on peppers. Not only does this pest suck out the juices from the plant, but it is also a carrier of various diseases of greenhouse crops.

Introducing the photo of the enemy - whitefly butterflies.

Biological characteristics

Whiteflies - This is a large family from the order of half-winged and has more than a half thousand species. The insect got its Russian name because of the presence of two pairs of white wings.

When considering this insect, we primarily mean a species called the greenhouse or greenhouse whitefly. It is the representatives of this population that damage our greenhouse crops.

This is a small insect with a body length of only one and a half millimeters, and the size of its larva barely reaches eight tenths of a millimeter. The body is painted yellowish, and two pairs of wings are white with a floury tint.

Food

Adults and larvae feed on juices that they suck from leaf blades, which leads to malnutrition of the plant due to a decrease in the amount of glucose obtained during photosynthesis and impaired leaf assimilation

Our help! Leaf assimilation - processing of inorganic compounds into organic. It is part of the photosynthesis process in the leaf plate of a plant.

The diet of whiteflies is quite wide and is not limited exclusively to greenhouse plants. Also, these pests affect indoor plants. Here is an incomplete list of crops on which this small insect can parasitize:

• tomato:
• pepper;
• cucumber;
• fuchsia;
• begonia;
• balsam;
• celery;
• passionflower;
• parsley;
• pelargonium;
• eggplant;
• lanthanum.

Breeding

The cycle of generation of this insect, despite its complexity, is very fleeting. In greenhouse conditions, in the literal and figurative sense, its duration from an egg to an adult is only twenty days.

Our help! Adults - this is what biology calls the last stage of development of an insect - an adult sexually mature individual.

The life cycle of whiteflies can be divided into the following stages:

1. Egg-laying. The female attaches from one hundred fifty to two hundred eggs to the underside of the leaf.
2. Larvae of the first age. Ten days later, larvae emerge from the eggs - wanderers named so because of the ability to move around the leaf plate of the plant.
3. Larvae of the second age. Nymphs are attached to the sheet and covered with a waxy protective coating, and then pupate.
4. Adult Three weeks after laying the eggs, we can meet an imago of a new generation.

The fight against whiteflies in the greenhouse must be carried out at the second stage of its development, until the bodies of the larvae are covered with a wax coating that can protect it from the most potent poisons.

Harm

Unlike the overwhelming number of insects, whitefly is a complex pest that strikes a plant from several directions at once.The damaging factors of this parasite are as follows:

1. The exhaustion of juices. And adult plants and larvae at all stages feed on plant juices, sucking them from the leaves. A weakened sheet cannot fulfill the function of photosynthesis assigned to it.
2. Attraction of parasitic fungi. Due to the fact that insects consume excessive amounts of juice, they release adhesive liquid on the top of the leaf, which is a favorable environment for the development of sooty parasitic fungi, which, in the end, leads to the death of the leaf plate, the leaf turns black, curls and dries.
3. Pathogenic microbes. In addition, whiteflies are also carriers of infectious diseases from which plants suffer.

Signs of defeat

Due to the fact that whiteflies primarily occupy the lower part of the leaf, their detection is often somewhat belated, but, nevertheless, some characteristic signs of damage are visible to the naked eye.

1. You can feel a sticky coating on the leaves when touched.
2. Deformation of the leaves, their torsion and wilting.
3. Yellowish spots with obscure contours are noticeable on leaf blades.
4. On the back of the leaves there are larvae and pupae.
5. When a plant is touched, a flock of white tiny moths, whiteflies, takes off from it.

If you notice one of these signs, immediately inspect all this and its neighboring plants for infection with pests. Having identified the lesion, begin the fight against the insidious enemy.

Advice! The sooner the detection of whitefly damage occurs and the fight against it begins, the less your crops will suffer.

Prevention

Each attack is easier to prevent than then to fight it heroically, whitefly in this regard is no exception.

Due to the fact that the insect pupae winter on the soil and structural elements of the structure, an effective way is to treat the greenhouse from whiteflies in the fall. These events are carried out using various disinfectants.

For example, a simple way of greenhouse hygiene will help, which includes several simple steps:

• harvesting plant debris, except for mulch;
• thorough washing of structural elements of the structure;
• treatment of greenhouse frames with Bordeaux liquid.

What else can you process a greenhouse from whiteflies in the fall? For this, such simple methods as antisepting the wooden frame with appropriate impregnations or painting metal frames with oil paint are suitable.

Another preventive way to deal with a whitefly in a greenhouse is to freeze it in the winter. The fact is that low temperatures are detrimental to the pupae of the insect.

Since it is known at what temperature the whitefly dies, it is 15 degrees below zero, then you need to do the following:

• for the winter, remove part of the roof or side wall of the greenhouse so that the structure is thoroughly frozen;
• if it is impossible to disassemble the greenhouse, ventilate it in severe winter frosts.

Preventive measures include attentiveness and compliance with agrotechnical requirements when planting and growing cultivated plants in a greenhouse, for example:

• check seedlings of planted plants, especially if it was purchased from a random seller;
• when planting, take into account the recommended distances between plants in order to prevent their thickening;
• to prevent high temperature and humidity in greenhouses that are favorable for pests, to ensure regular ventilation of the greenhouse;
• if whitefly is likely to be affected, tighten the air vents in the greenhouse with a gauze net to prevent the pest inside the structure.

Methods of struggle

If the pest nevertheless appeared in your greenhouse, you will have to start a fight aimed at its destruction. Methods of controlling whiteflies are quite diverse, with the destruction of this insect, such means are used:

• biological;
• chemical;
• mechanical;
• folk.

We singled out the people in a separate category in order to once again admire the ingenuity of our fellow citizens.

Biological

It turns out that whiteflies have enough natural enemies in nature. Populating our greenhouses with such insects, we save the plants. Here is a partial list of our assistants in this fight:

• ladybugs;
• lacewings;
• enkarsia;
• bug macropholus.

Ladybugs and lacewings in the greenhouse can be attracted by planting umbrella plants, for example, the same dill. As for enkarsiya and bugs of macropholes, they can be purchased at plant protection stations. Enkarziy enough for three pupae per square meter, and bugs - 5.

Chemical

Of the variety of chemicals for controlling whiteflies, today’s popular insecticides can be used, such as:

• "Actellik";
• Ziermetrin
• Intavir
• Pirmetrin
• Corado
• "Actara."

Using these substances, strictly observe the recommended proportions so as not to pick up excessive chemistry, penetrating into all parts of the plant, including the fruits.

Advice! For better adhesion of the solution to the leaves, add liquid soap to it at the rate of one tablespoon per bucket of water.

Mechanical

Mechanical methods of control are the organization of capture of insects. Various adhesive insect tapes and homemade traps are used as traps.

Advice! On the yellow cardboard, apply petroleum jelly and hang at the top of the plant tops. Whiteflies adore yellow color and soon most of them will stick to such cardboard traps.

Folk

Folk control methods combine the treatment of plants with organic insecticides and fumigation with smoke insecticides.

As natural remedies, you can recommend tinctures of plants such as:

• garlic;
• yarrow;
• dandelion.

By the way, even a simple flushing of whiteflies with water is a fairly effective way to fight, these insects simply do not know how to swim!

Useful video about the fight against whitefly as always at the end of our conversation.