Corn rootworms are the immature stage of other beetles. These too are distructive pests, not only of corn, but of other vegetables as adults. For more technical information and for recent publications by scientists on this project, see the National Program Staff webpage . Whitefly Biology Whiteflies are tiny white insects that attack 500 different species of plants, including tomato, sweet potato, green beans, cantaloupe, squash, hibiscus, poinsettia and cotton. Damage occurs through the production of honeydew, a sugary excretion which leads to the formation of molds on the leaf surface, and through plant stress from the loss of plant sap and physical damage from feeding.
Whiteflies also can transmit diseases, such as viruses, between plants.
They cause multimillion dollar losses in crop damage each year. Wasp parasites are effective biological control agents that can kill whiteflies. Dale Gelman and Michael Blackburn are investigating ways to better use wasp parasites to control white fly pests. These IBL researchers are conducting experiments to learn how whitefly and wasp development are regulated, how each insect affects the development of the other, and how to grow the wasp parasite in large numbers on artificial diet. Research results will better enable producers to use wasp parasites in controlling greenhouse and silverleaf whiteflies.