Orange Spiny Whitefly, Aleurocanthus Spiniyrus (Quaintance)

The orange spiny whitefly, Aleurocanthus spiniferus (Quaintance), was recorded by Kuwana (1928) as the most destructive aleyrodid attacking citrus in tropical Asia. Experts consider it to be the most important of 4 or more species of whiteflies attacking citrus in Japan, and it was rated by Clausen (1927) as the seventh most important citrus insect in Japan. A heavy outbreak on citrus in the Kyushu area of that country caused great damage to trees and loss of fruit until it was brought under control in the 1920’s by a parasitic wasp, Prospaltella smithi Silvestri. Clausen (1934) reported that another gregarious parasite of A. spiniferus in tropical Asia was Amitus hesperidum variipes Silvestri, which oviposits in the young larvae immediately after hatching and before they become fixed to the leaf. More recently, A. spiniferus became the most serious pest of citrus on the island of Guam until brought under control-by the introduction of parasites in 1952 (Ceir 9(17):321-322. 1959). in 1974 spiniferus was discovered in Hawaii on the island of Oahu where it rapidly became a principal pest. Recently, laboratory-reared shipments of a parasitic wasp, Amitus hesperidum Silvestri, were introduced into Hawaii from Mexico where this wasp had been cultured for the control of the citrus blackfly, Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby; Amitus hesperidum had been introduced into Mexico from India in 1950. The USDA Agricultural Research Service recently predicted that soon it will be rearing 100,000 of these parasites a week at their laboratory in Tamaulipas, Mexico, with an eventual capacity of 1 million parasites per week. Heavy infestations of A. spiniferus cause a rapid deterioration of the trees and crop failure to all citrus varieties and may lead to tree mortality, damage is done by adult and larval whiteflies which suck sap from the leaves and by the formation of sooty mold which develops on the honeydew they secrete, sooty mold interferes with photosynthesis. A. spiniferus has not been introduced into the western hemisphere, but it poses a very serious potential threat to the citrus industry of this region.