The silverleaf whitefly was first described in 1994. It was first observed in Florida about 1986 and discovered in North Carolina in July 1987. Silverleaf whiteflies infest ornamentals and vegetables grown in commercial greenhouses. It is especially attracted to poinsettias, gerbera daises, and hibiscus. This whitefly is troublesome on poinsettias because as the bracts mature they become increasingly sensitive to pesticides.
Infested plants become sticky with honeydew and dark with sooty molds.
They tuck the legs and antennae underneath and settle down closely to the leaf surface. Crawlers molt into scale-like nymphs that also suck out sap. Nymphs grow and molt a second and third time into a nonfeeding state called the pupa. The adult whitefly develops within the pupa. Adults emerge from the pupal skin through a T-shaped slit about a month after the time the egg was laid.