Description:
The adult is 1,2-1,4mm long, creamy white; mainly coated with white wax. They appear late on spring, where they lay their eggs on the underside of young leaves. Nymphs hatch after some weeks, they are oval, scale-like, pale greenish yellow, up to 1,5mm and they feed there in clusters.
Symptoms:
Leaves: Presence of the different developmental stages on the underside of the leaves, secretion of honeydew, development of sooty moulds, weakened plants
Fruits: Contamination of fruits because of the secretion of honeydew and the development of sooty moulds
Hosts: Citrus (mainly), figs, olive tree, pomegranate, plum tree,ornamental plants
Taxonomy:
Kingdom | Animalia |
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Class | Insecta |
Order | Hemiptera |
Family | Aleyrodidae |
Genus | Dialeurodes |
Species | citri |
References:
Alford D. V. (2014). Pests of Fruit Crops. A Colour Handbook, CRC Press, 2nd Edition