The entire cycle takes about a month. Adults cannot survive more than a week without food plants. On other varieties of plants where whitefly populations are high or the plant is very susceptible, there can be wilting, chlorosis, loss of leaves or stunting. The honeydew that whiteflies produce by expelling undigested plant sap may cause sooty mold to develop. The mold does not damage the leaf, but may coat the plant interfering with photosynthesis, and is unsightly.
Many growers are intolerable of the mere presence of whiteflies.
Just seeing the adult insect fly from a plant is upsetting. Whiteflies can transmit various plant diseases and plant viruses. They are often found on new growth since they are attracted to the lighter shades of yellow green. The eggs are laid in a circle on leaf undersides. They are light yellow at first, turning gray later on.