Silverleaf whitefly has an enormous number of host plants.
In PA greenhouses, this species is most commonly found as a pest of poinsettias. In addition to causing damage by sucking the leaf tissue and secreting honeydew, SLWF is an important carrier of damaging viruses, transmitting more than 25 viruses and many other virus-like diseases. Avoid colonization of this pest in vegetables by separating vegetable and ornamental crops. If you produce your own vegetable transplants, and also grow ornamental crops, isolate a separate area for vegetable transplant production. Eretmocerus eremicus is a fairly new product for whitefly control and is more effective in controlling SLWF than Encarsia formosa .