Whitefly populations are also building in some areas of the state, and a few fields have already been treated for this pest as well. Although the silverleaf or sweet potato whitefly does occasionally occur on Mississippi cotton, the bandedwinged whitefly is the primary species of concern. Although whiteflies may occur during any year, they do tend to be flared by malathion treatments. They also seem to be more common on hairy leafed varieties of cotton. Because of their erratic nature, there is little data available from the Mid-South on the yield impact of whitefly infestations.
Whiteflies are one of the easiest cotton insects to scout for.
Scout by examining randomly chosen terminals and count terminals as being infested if 5 or more adult whiteflies are present. Adult whiteflies lay eggs which are attached to the bottom side of the leaf. The second treatment is to control those adults that emerged after the initial treatment. With either of these materials it is important to apply a second application no more than 5 days later. These are probably vegetable leaf miners.