Issue No. 430
Ian Stocks
March, 2014
Introduction
Aroids (family Araceae), such as Colocasia spp., Alocasia spp., Philodendron spp. and Caladium spp., are popular indoor and patio plants in the United States, and in the subtropical climate of Florida they are also common elements in exterior landscapes. Of the >70 species of whiteflies (Aleyrodidae) in Florida, only a few have been collected from aroids. Of those, only Crenidorsum sp., Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (‘sweetpotato whitefly’) and Aleuroglandulus subtilis Bondar are common enough to be considered occasional pests. Aleuroglandulus subtilis, described originally from Brazil from Chomelia oligantha (Rubiaceae), has been in Florida since the 1920s, occurs in Cuba and Jamaica (Florida State Collection of Arthropods slide collection data), and is reported throughout most of the Caribbean (Bondar 1923; Evans 2008). It was recently reported from Hawaii from three collections (2006, 2010, 2011), all from aroids and present at moderate to severe levels (Nagamine and Garcia 2011). Martin (2005) revised the taxonomy of Aleuroglandulus in his treatment of whiteflies of Belize, and synonomized A. malangae Russell and A. emmae Russell with A. subtilis; previously, all slides in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA) were identified as either A. malangae (the majority) or A. emmae.
A recent collection of A. subtilis from an infested aroid in Florida was heavily parasitized by Amitus sp. wasps (Platygasteridae). Parasitism of Aleuroglandulus subtilis in Florida has not previously been noted, and the populations in Hawaii appeared to be free of parasitoids.