The tiny, oval eggs hatch into a first nymphal stage that has legs and antennae and is mobile. The legs and antennae are lost after the first molt and subsequent stages remain fixed to the leaf surface. The last nymphal stage, often called the pupa or the red-eye nymph, is the stage that is easiest to identify. The edge of the pupae tapers down to the leaf surface and has few to no long waxy filaments around the edge. Silverleaf whitefly problems in cotton develop from populations that overwinter in cole crops, ornamentals, and weeds.
Populations often build in spring melons and migrate to cotton.
Once temperatures warm up in summer, populations can build rapidly with the highest populations occurring in late summer. Feeding by high populations may result in stunting, poor growth, defoliation, boll shed and reduced yields. When possible, plant cotton at least one-half mile upwind from other key whitefly hosts such as melons and cole crops. Control weeds in noncrop areas including head rows and fallow fields and harvest alfalfa on as short a schedule as possible. In addition, allow the maximum time between whitefly host crops and produce vegetables and melons in the shortest season possible.